How Naruto Screwed With History and Changed A Lot of Things
by Rifat
Summary: What happens when you mess with the fabric of space and time? Nothing good. However, to defeat an Edo Tensei Madara, Naruto pulls off such a forbidden jutsu—decimating them both. Later, Naruto wakes up to find himself in a new Uchiha-ish body and a fustercluck of a journey begins for him. Oh, did he mention he was stuck in the past? Crack-ish. Contains content from other series.
1. A Few Shifts in Time

**Author's Notes I:** Yes, yes, I know. All of you must've gotten excited at seeing this getting updated, right? Yeah, sorry. This isn't an update, rather a rewrite that has finally gotten off the mark. I know a lot of you will say there was no need to do it, but honestly the rewrite was a long thing coming. As most of you know, I took an incentive to rewrite nearly all of my stuff and HNS did not fall out of that category. The former six chapters which were published will be broken into twelve to thirteen, if there are scene additions and extensions (like with this chapter) I will notify about these later in the ANs and summary. If you're someone new reading this, this story was originally made as an homage of sorts to NeonZangetsu's "Die Another Day" and jCOOLn's "Second Chances". I don't think this will be as good as theirs, simply because: I suck. Though, I am trying to improve and hence, the rewrite. Enjoy…or hate.

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 **I'd like to think that I own Naruto, sadly Kishimoto smiles every time I do.**

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 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

Fūinjutsu, the Art of Sealing, was esoteric in nature.

It could store a person's memories, vast amounts of knowledge, instinctual habits at doing something, a phantom consciousness and even leave a portion of themselves in an object as a countermeasure. Though such feats of fūinjutsu could only be done by those who spent years after years of their lives to understand the Art of Sealing.

Two months ago, a feat of this scale occurred when the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi went rampart.

Pein, or Nagato, a shinobi of Amegakure along with his Six Paths led an attack on the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Their purpose: to take the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi and drag him to their base. Prior to this, Pein had been responsible for killing Jiraiya the Toad Sage, his own former teacher, who managed to pass down information regarding the Rinnegan user's abilities. The Six Paths of Pein lead the assault and after turning the village into a giant crater, his target Uzumaki Naruto appeared.

Losing Jiraiya was a big blow to him and later, he agreed to go to Mt. Myoboku to master Senjutsu. He had attained Sage Mode perfectly. The young sage fought against the Six Paths of Pein, taking down five of the Paths before finally the Tendo Path's power become too overwhelming for him. Naruto was later stabbed with those accursed black rods as he laid on the ground waiting for defeat.

Help came in the most unexpected manner when Tsunade reappeared to help the Jinchūriki, who reminded her of both the brother and lover she had lost. The Godaime was not losing another person close to her heart. While her strength of display was impressive, her stamina nearly drained while protecting the villagers and then, she was stabbed with the black rods of Pein, sending her into a comatose state. This made Naruto enter the Tailed Beast Berserker State, wherein the Kyūbi's chakra formed a layer of red, venomous cloak covered his body with an exoskeleton and eight tails.

Nagato, through his last remaining Path formed a small planetoid to contain it. However, Kyūbi's will of carnage overpowered it. Inside the mindscape, the image of Tsunade getting stabbed replayed constantly. He had already lost Jiraiya, the prospect of losing someone like Tsunade who tried protecting him had taken a mental toll on him. Kyūbi grinned with joy, Naruto arrived at the gate that held back the beast, to tear off the seal and let loose hell on Pein for committing such an atrocity. However, he had been stopped by another person in his mind.

Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage, stopped him. He revealed he was Naruto's father. That particular revelation had made Naruto react in the most natural way he could, by punching his father in the gut. Later on, after Naruto calmed down - a bit - Minato relayed that the Masked Man from the Akatsuki was responsible for the Kyuubi attack nearly seventeen years ago.

The Fourth Hokage had mere moments before his chakra faded, but he proved why he was a seal master as he ingrained knowledge of all his abilities, specific memories along with other necessary information in his son's mind along with tightening the Hakke Fūin. That small shift in destiny caused a ripple. Naruto emerged from the small planetoid, in Sage Mode and wielding a kunai from his pouch. The blond fought the Tendo Path once more, and this time the Rinnegan user wasn't taking any chances as he too was tired. When the Rinnegan user unleashed another overwhelming, gravitational blast to increase their gap, Pein believed he had won.

Pein ignored how the kunai Naruto threw missed him by inches going past his face, and the shock he felt when the boy disappeared in a yellow flash. Naruto appeared beside him and ended the Tendo Path with a destructive Rasengan. Naruto would go on to confront the real Pein, Nagato —who like him was another student of Jiraiya. While Naruto wanted to kill him initially, it would've made no significant progress towards the dream his master wanted to achieve.

Moved by the Jinchūriki's words and how their master dedicated their first book to Nagato's beliefs, the Rinnegan user brought back all the people he killed with a jutsu, it ultimately cost his own life. Nagato died believing that perhaps this teen would succeed where he failed.

Uzumaki Naruto was welcomed back to the Hidden Leaf as a hero, finally earning that recognition he had been striving for. This however, was merely an overture to a larger chain of events.

 **||xXxXx—HNSWH—xXxXx||**

The Jinchūriki's hand wielded a simple brush as he constructed several arrays with chakra infused ink. Each line of text written carefully as his blue eyes scanned the matrix formula for the umpteenth time.

Placing an empty ramen cup in the center of the scroll, he began to make hand seals at a rapid pace.

He had to hand it to Namikaze Minato, his father was worthy of the SS Rank. To have a perception like that in his dying moments, such a thought process was terrifying. The memories he received also enhanced his knowledge on seals, tactics, jutsu, and overall bumped his mind to a higher level. Of course there were some unique drawbacks, but he overcame them with some professional help.

Finishing the chain of hand seals, he made the sign for the ram and a small, circular void manifested above the ramen cup. The apparent hole in the air was making winds rise in the room, everything inside the barrier — which Naruto had set up beforehand — was slowly drawing towards the swirling aberration inside the room.

Naruto observed the four Hiraishin kunai and noted the added layer of seals on the other side of the hilt glowing. The blond kept another kunai, outside the barrier for an experiment. He noted how everything outside the bluish barrier wasn't affected. As Naruto channeled chakra to escape from the four walled barrier he set up, he failed utterly.

"Yatta," Naruto exclaimed at his apparent failure.

Happiness reverberated within him and he would've done a victory dance like his former master, if there wasn't a knock at the door. Urging the temptation to sigh and rip whoever the hell dared to disturb him in the middle of his mad scientist routine, he walked forward to answer.

"Yo," said the guest. Book in hand, nose in between pages thirty-two and thirty-three, Hatake Kakashi waved his hand, lazily as ever.

"Sensei," Naruto said, his former twitchy frustration gone at the sight of his teacher. Kakashi did die, not for a very long time but he did. Naruto would cut him some slack.

"Hokage-sama called you at her office," the lanky man said. "She said it's urgent."

"Umm," Naruto dragged the word, a peevish expression. "How urgent, sensei? I'm sort of in the middle of making something…tricky." A nasty grin had formed on his face after uttering the last word.

Kakashi shivered at the look, the man remembered how his sensei and his wife would often have bouts of madness when it came to seals. He never questioned it because he had his own set of issues to deal with –by reading porn. Moving his mind away from the past, he spoke, "I'd hurry if I were you. I saw her sitting with no paperwork."

"Well that doesn't sound so bad-"

"-and three empty bottles of saké."

 _'Oh shit…'_ the blond thought, a cold sweat ran down his spine. Tsunade with three bottles down indicated frustration. Frustration leads to anger, which lead to her socking him in the jaw, which he didn't complain much about. Perhaps he was a masochist like Jiraiya.

"Let's go then," Naruto stepped outside, thankfully he was still wearing sandals and somewhat appropriate attire. As he closed the door behind him, ink appeared around the knob before spreading all over the wooden frame and disappearing.

"You know," Kakashi said as both started to walk away from the Namikaze residence, a house that the Yondaime was shrewd enough to build behind the Hokage Monument. "I never really pictured you becoming proficient at seals."

"Well, I never imagined you being Inu-san," Naruto replied, both of them starting run at a good pace. There was some distance to cover and reconstruction for the village was yet to start in full bloom.

"Well, ANBU aren't supposed to reveal their secrets," Kakashi said, indicating a smile with his enclosed, visible eye. Finally, both of them decreased their speed to a normal walking one.

"You just did."

"Touché," Kakashi muttered as they walked along. The Copy Ninja would've said more, had he not been distracted by the people flocking towards them. Each of them greeting Naruto, shaking his hand, gracious for getting the chance to speak with him.

For Kakashi this was an uneasy experience. While he may not have interacted with Naruto when he was a child, he did keep an eye on him whenever the former ANBU was in the village. Kakashi remembered the glares, the sneers, the curses, and the neglect. How they ignored his very existence, of their 'Hero'. How they glared at him for speaking to them, and finally, for even having the gall to live among them.

Human behavior was a paradox at best. If these people were to learn of Itachi's true reason for massacring the clan, Log knows what they would do. The Copy Ninja could tell that Naruto was a bit peeved, even uncomfortable at times, with the amount of attention and praise he received. He couldn't blame the teen. This was the first time a large number of people began to see for what Naruto was really worth.

Thankfully, their stride didn't last too long, as they reached a very ordinary looking two-story building. Made with Tenzo patented wood, as Kakashi pointed out, this was the new Hokage Tower, or Hokage Office. The 'Respectable' Elders called it a pig-sty, before they were arrested of course. That came as no surprise to anyone. It was just a matter of when and not if.

Knocking at the door, Kakashi heard a feminine voice muttering 'Come in', and the white haired man simply opened the door for his student to enter.

"You're not coming in, sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Well," Kakashi said, shrugging his shoulders, "I sort of know what this is about, but if there's anything out of the blue let me know."

"Right," Naruto said and was going to walk in, but Kakashi's next words halted him.

"Also," the Sharingan wielder spoke with a low tone, "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Naruto turned around in confusion. "Sorry…for what?"

"For everything," Kakashi said. Shame and regret present in his voice, as he continued, "I really should've been there for you. I looked up to sensei, a lot. I didn't realize how much I did until I lost him. And for that, I'm truly-"

"-Apology accepted," Naruto said, as he closed the door with solemn expression on his face, "This might sound weird, but I kinda understand. I mean some of Dad's memories showed just how down and out were after you lost your teammates. On top of that you were in ANBU, so you were messed up in the head, even if a little bit. That said I'm still a bit pissed at you, Jiji, and Ero-Sennin. I was a goddamn orphan, and… I really did consider suicide one or two times when I was a kid. I didn't have anyone and having some company wouldn't have hurt that much."

Kakashi winced at the words. Not only because he ignored Naruto as a child, but also as a student. Sharingan no Kakashi wasn't perfect, he could admit that fact freely. Teaching and doting on Sasuke to a certain extent more than his other students did prove that. All Kakashi ever taught Naruto was teamwork, surface clinging and helped him finish the Rasenshuriken. Yet, the teen didn't hold an ounce of prejudice against him.

That made it all the more worse.

"But," Naruto paused and the Copy Ninja met his eyes. The blond instead of scowling, smiled. "I also know that, you changed. It took some time, but you did stand up for me. You even died, and I couldn't do a damn thing about it. I should be apologizing, sensei."

"You don't need to apologize for anything, Naruto," Kakashi said. "It all worked out in the end, didn't it?"

"Yeah, it did. We were lucky, dattebayo," Naruto said with an awkward chuckle. "I've gotta admit though, you suddenly catching me in the outskirts nearly made me scream like a girl. I mean, people die when they are killed."

"Uh," Kakashi sweat dropped at his word. Leave it to Naruto to say something awkward like that, "You probably shouldn't say that phrase…ever…again."

"Why not? I mean people die if they are killed, right?" Naruto repeated, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, just don't. Sounds…cheesy," Kakashi replied. Dear Log that sounded so wrong.

"Give it a few years, sensei. Then you'll see how it becomes a thing."

"I don't see that happening."

"GET YOUR ASS IN HERE, BRAT!" a yell of terror shook the entire area around them, and both sighed.

"Well, you better get going. Hell hath no fury and all," Kakashi said. "By the way, meet me afterwards. There's something I want to show you."

"Is it a cool jutsu? Because I am craving," Naruto said with stars in his eyes.

Kakashi was glad this was still Naruto. At least Minato-sensei didn't leave mold his persona into the boy. That would've been terrifying. "Something like that. Ja ne," Kakashi said before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

He reappeared some distance away, as momentarily closed the famed orange book of lewdness and debauchery. He looked at his right hand and even today, Kakashi could still see Rin's blood on it. It was something he would regret for the rest of his life, taking the life of a comrade.

But Rin chose her fate. She whispered the truth about what happened to her and why it had to be done. It didn't make it easier though.

It took Kakashi nearly seventeen years, but he was finally able to move on. The Sandaime was right, Team Seven healed him. They closed that scar, filling that gap that was left from so long ago. All he could do from now was protect the younger generation and if Sasuke didn't reform, his patience and mercy only went so far.

A new war was coming; bloody days and even bloodier nights would follow. Of that he had no doubt.

 _'Perhaps,'_ Kakashi thought, a dark aura emitting from him as his eye darkened. _'Cold-Blooded Kakashi needs to return.'_

 **||xXxXx—HNSWH—xXxXx||**

Patience was not her strongest suit.

Unless, it involved gambling or surgery. Her mind worked in a different way under those circumstances. The world itself became limited to the room she would be in. Other than that, Senju Tsunade's temperament went so far.

Being kept waiting was something she didn't tolerate either.

Not. One. Bit.

 _'If he doesn't get his ass in here, in less than thirty seconds I will-'_ Tsunade's thoughts ended there as the door opened and in walked the Hero of the Leaf.

He had gotten strong, perhaps stronger than her. She wasn't sure about that, but with the Hiraishin it made him broken to an extent. Add that in with three elemental affinities, a shitload of chakra and his mastery over natural energy, Uzumaki Naruto was a force to be reckoned with. Yet he had so much more potential. Over the years he'd become special to her. There were a few people she would willing risk her life for, and Naruto would always be one of them.

"Yo," he greeted.

She sighed. Getting him to have some form of etiquette was still a laborious task. Maybe it was impossible. But something was off, and she realized exactly what it was.

"That's it?" she asked, curiously.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Naruto he replied in confusion.

"No, 'Baa-chan!' or anything like that?" Tsunade inquired. It was something she was used to by now. Granted she was old, something she didn't appreciate one bit and being reminded of it didn't help. But Naruto not saying it felt _weird_.

"I figured I'd give you a break from that," he replied cheekily. "I mean you just got out from a coma, so…"

"Didn't know you were this considerate, brat," she said haughtily.

Miracles did happen now and then.

"I try, dattebayo. I'm not as bad as everyone makes it out to be," Naruto mumbled, childishly. "So what'd you call me for? I'm working on this sweet new seal, and then I'll finally get to work on my other affinities."

"That reminds me, why didn't you focus on those two elements before?" Tsunade asked. It was something that had been bugging her for some time, "Kakashi is a good Raiton user and Yamato knew Suiton. Why go for Fūton?"

"They did, but I wanted something that would make me stand out," he spoke, and in that moment Tsunade saw a true shinobi standing there. His voice filled with conviction, "Plus, I've never been one for shortcuts. Except now, but even Dad's jutsu came at a price. I swear I had really awkward dreams, some of them were his memories. I have been officially scarred."

"Geez, kid what did you see to-" she stopped herself as it proverbially dawned inside her mind. "Oh."

"Thankfully I don't have those…dreams anymore. Ino and her mind jutsu thingy is awesome," Naruto said.

"Huh," Tsunade shrugged. "So any reason why she's still visiting your house?"

"Oh, you know," Naruto chuckled, nervously. "So that the memories don't mess with me again. Training leaves me tired, dattebayo."

"I see. So, why do you put up privacy and silencing seals, blocking out the sounds and obscuring the windows of your house?" she asked, a mild glare on her face.

"W-Well, you see," Naruto spoke, his mind obviously cooking up some excuses.

Tsunade wasn't naïve, she knew the two were sleeping together if Sakura's rants were anything to be believed. While it was none of her business, Tsunade couldn't afford to have a super pervert on her hands, no matter how much she would miss her former teammate.

"Look, brat," Tsunade spoke as he finally stopped counting the number of excuses, "I'm not one to say about what you do and who you do it with. But keep it in your head, she's a clan heiress. Not to mention I may have to put a restraining order on you seeing how girls seem to be throwing themselves at you."

"Oi, Ino isn't like that!" he exclaimed, defending his fellow blonde. "It wouldn't have happened if we didn't spend so much time together, and locking away…intimate memories like that has its side-effects. Besides, it's not like we're seeing each other or something."

"Watch yourself, gaki. I don't want another Jiraiya here," Tsunade said. "Don't want you walking around and breaking girls' hearts left and right."

"That's not happening anytime soon. Besides, I don't think I'll date anyone from Konoha," Naruto replied, pouting. He then whispered something. Tsunade heard it and her breath almost hitched.

"What did you say?" Tsunade asked.

"U-Uhm, nothing," Naruto said defensively and was going to bring up another topic, before Tsunade's fist banged against her desk.

"What. Did. You. Say?" she asked, her fist gathering more strength with each passing second. She heard him sigh, before he put his hands in his pockets.

"I said," he paused, "If you were younger, I'd probably date you."

…

"Is this another one of your pranks?" Tsunade asked, her best poker face on. "Because if you are-"

"It's not, honestly," Naruto said not really meeting her gaze as he continued.

"I mean being with Ero-Sennin, you pick up some of his habits, if not all of them. And uhh, I sort of started liking older women more. At first I thought it was just that, but it wasn't. I sorta realized that most of the girls in my class were either fan girls or not serious. This is confusing! What I'm trying to say is, I like women that have their priorities straight. I mean, look at me. I'd probably need someone strong willed, kind, loving, and bossy enough to keep me in line considering how much trouble I cause."

He finished with an awkward chuckle, and closing his eyes. He didn't notice how Tsunade's eyes widened, how her cheeks had become pink before she cleverly hid it.

"You've become a smooth talker," Tsunade said not meeting his gaze. Instead she opted to open a drawer and picked out a scroll. Unsealing the contents, it revealed a chūnin flak jacket. She then threw it at the unsuspecting blond, with a considerable amount of force as he keeled over.

"Damn it, what was that for?" he grumbled in annoyance.

Stupid blond men and their stupid honey-coated words making her see him in a different light. Must be the saké messing with her. There was no way in hell that he looked like a man with a charming look on his face when he spoke.

"That's your jacket. Congrats, you're a chūnin now," she said and thankfully, he became distracted by it. That was good.

"Awesome," he said as took off his jacket and once more, Tsunade cursed her mind.

The blamed saké in her system made her notice how muscular his arms became. Hell, he shouldn't look that good with his hair flowing like that and… he had grown his hair too.

 _'Don't do something stupid, Tsunade,'_ she told herself. _'This is Naruto. A brat. Minato and Kushina's brat. He's far too young.'_

She fought those budding feelings back. While she was wholly abusing her intentions, the woman part of her refused the statements. It'd been years since Tsunade had been remotely intimate with someone. While she was indeed old, her body wasn't and she did crave something. Something she hadn't had in a while, and this idiot was sparking those flames again.

"Oh yeah, I'm going back to Mt. Myoboku in two weeks," Naruto added all of a sudden, effectively derailing her thoughts. Much to her relief.

"What? Why?" Tsunade asked, she couldn't let him find out about the declared war under any circumstance. She knew exactly how he would rush to the frontlines if he found out.

"Well, my Senjutsu training is finished, but there are a few more things I want to work on. I think I know why Kakashi sensei called me today," Naruto said. "Plus, time flows slowly there for some reason. At least I think so, anyway."

Tsunade spoke. "There's something else you should know."

"What?"

"The Raikage's brother, Killer Bee, is the Jinchūriki of the Hachibi. He's mastered the full power of his Bijū," she continued.

"Octopus!" Naruto exclaimed and snapped his fingers. "So he's the guy Sleepy Toad Geezer Sage was talking about."

"…I'm going to ignore that, mostly because it doesn't make any Log-damned sense," she said. "Anyways, you're going meet up with him and the trip will take a little over a month."

"But how? I need to go back to the Toads' place. There's something I want to try-"

"If you let me finish-"

"Plus going back and forth will waste so much time. Sure I have to meet this octopus guy, he's going to help me and all-"

"You're not listening, are you?"

"But there's so much more I can do in between, and OH MY LOG DON'T HIT ME WITH THAT TABLE!" Naruto squeaked. He wasn't ashamed; manlier men had squirmed before Tsunade's monstrous strength.

It was not every day one could claim they were threatened by the Legendary Sucker promising to give a concussion. Seeing the desk drop with a thud, the room shook with a violent aftershock.

"As I was saying," Tsunade said, her eyes closed with anger. "The trip will take over a month, and you have your own plans, but thankfully there is a solution."

"What? Teleportation?" Naruto quipped.

…

"Please hit me," he requested.

"With pleasure," Tsunade said, closing the distance between them and bopping him on the head, which was enough to make him hit the ground. "I'm going to be honest. I enjoyed that far more than I should've."

"Yeah, no doubt about that," Naruto got up, nose bleeding and his jacket went from pure green to sporting spots of red. "Oh great, now my chūnin jacket of authority is tainted."

"Do you live in your own world?"

"Well, the seas aren't made of broth and it doesn't rain ramen from the sky. So…no," he said and felt Tsunade's palm settle over his nose. A green glow emitting from it, and a small warmth encompassed him. "Wow."

"Yeah, my Mystic Palm is a bit different from Sakura's and Shizune's," she replied. "It's because of the chakra nature difference."

"Not that," he said the moment she stopped healing him. It didn't take that long regarding his freakish healing rate. "I meant your hand. It was uh, really soft."

…

"Did you really mean it?" she asked, her gaze moving away from him.

"Yup, soft as silk."

"No that, you stupid idiot," she paused for a moment, her voice low, "the other thing, about… Me being younger and you…"

"Well, yeah," Naruto said, "you're probably one of the few I'd ever want to date. That or someone like Mom. I mean she seems like someone who could keep someone like me in line."

"Developing a crush on your mother, huh?" Tsunade smirked.

"NO!" he denied, the pink on his cheeks said otherwise. "Okay maybe I did. But can you blame, she's gorgeous with that red hairs of her. Dad was lucky. I mean she's probably the most beautiful woman I saw, just like you and your amazing hazel eyes."

"Charmer, now get," she said and motioned for him to leave. Before he could, she spoke again, "Almost forgot. Naruto."

"Yeah?" he stood up and faced her, almost as tall as her now. Three years with Jiraiya had been good for him, in addition to the added growth the Kyūbi's chakra had on him.

"You know what? Fuck it," she said.

"I don't foll-MMPH," Naruto couldn't finish as he felt a pair of soft lips over his own.

The Naruto of old would've frozen. Taught by Jiraiya, he could only follow his master's advice and go with the flow. As their lips caressed each other's, Naruto opened his mouth and soon enough his tongue met with Tsunade's as they fought for dominance, before finally separating for some time.

"Uh," he incoherently said, breathing a bit raggedly.

"Flash to your place, now," Tsunade said.

"But what about the office," he asked, only getting another passionate kiss that ensnared him further.

"I finished the work for the day. Besides, Shizune can cover for me," she said, her voice dangerously sultry now.

"What does this mean?" he had to ask. This was Tsunade, and he wasn't sure how to feel about this. Granted she was old, but she didn't look old. She didn't feel old. Hell, he had some thoughts about her every now and then, he wouldn't deny that. Still…

"I don't know," she replied. "But whatever it is, I'm going to enjoy this for one day. I…haven't really been with anyone since Dan. I need something to calm me down. Can you do that for me, Naruto?"

That was all he needed to know. Her saying his name. Sure, things wouldn't work out between them. Time had made sure of that, but for today and some other nights - if he was lucky enough - he would oblige.

"Sure," he said, sure that the perverted sage in heaven would be proud. And with that Naruto and Tsunade disappeared in a yellow flash, appearing in his house. In the bedroom, conveniently enough. It didn't take long for them to heatedly take each other again, but once Tsunade's kimono-styled blouse came off… he thanked the Gods of all that was ecchi and hentai, as Jiraiya taught him. And the Log, always the Log.

 _'I see it, Ero-Sennin,'_ Naruto said as he looked at a topless, blushing Tsunade. Her magnificent chest waiting to be ravaged, _'That near-death beating of yours did not go down in vain.'_

"Hey," she said, in an almost shy voice yet having some sass in it. "What the hell are you looking at?"

"The most beautiful woman in the world and-" was all he could say before Tsunade pulled him by his shirt, he only noticed now how his parents picture frame was facing them. _'I'm sorry, but this is worth it.'_

 **||xXxXx—HNSWH—xXxXx||**

"Pain…everywhere," Naruto groaned out, with all the strength he could muster.

"Oh that's just weakness leaving the body and karma working its charm," said a beautiful red haired woman. Her violet eyes twinkled with mirth upon seeing the teen sit up, cracks resounding with his movements.

"Karma has nothing to do with it, Kaa-chan," Naruto muttered as he held his ribcage. Sure the whole thing was in his mind, but being slammed around with Kushina's chains was not nice. Now he knew how the Kyūbi felt during their fight when the beast was held down. The poor, big incarnate of destruction.

"Well, I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't slept with Tsunade…in my room!" she yelled, her hair flickering wildly. It was eerily reminiscent to how the Kyūbi's tails would menacingly float. "Do you have any idea how much awkward it was watching my little baby plunge himself into a woman decades older than him?"

"Technically speaking, her body doesn't age as long as the seal is in effect."

"That's not the point, dattebane," Kushina said, her fist manifested chains to emphasize the yet to be said point. "You turned out a lot like Jiraiya. Honestly having sex with someone even before you're married."

"Really?" Naruto questioned.

"What do you mean 'really'?" Kushina replied.

"I know," Naruto simply said looking away, his own cheeks red. The image was vividly clear in his mind.

"Know what?" Kushina asked, not liking how Naruto was dodging her questions. She wanted to give out a beating, dattebane! In her opinion it was wrong.

"…about the Hiraishin mark on your left ass-cheek," he replied and instantly received a jackhammer like blow to his face. Kushina's face and hair shared the exact same color.

"T-That's not something you say to your mother, dattebane," she said and wildly flailed her arms around.

"Gonna be honest here," Naruto said clutching his head in pain, "At this point I'm sure I have brain damage."

"With that filthy mind, I'm not surprised. Jiraiya corrupted you way too much," Kushina said with an angry glare.

"That's rich, considering what you and Tou-chan used to do when you were sixteen," Naruto replied.

Okay, maybe he was bit of a pervert - all men were - but people really ought to cut his former master some slack. Jiraiya was lust incarnate to a certain degree, which he proudly admitted, but the man had admirable traits too. He passed on his dream of bringing peace to the shinobi world and the Toad Sage firmly believed in Naruto too; not to mention Minato and Nagato backed that statement. On a side note, and a very wrong one that, Kushina looked cuter with the blush.

 _'Naruto you piece of shit,'_ he told himself. _'That's your mom. Think about Ino and Tsunade naked….goddamn red hair!'_

"That was different," Kushina tried to defend her actions.

"Oh yes, having sex in the Uzumaki Mask Temple was different alright," he said and this time dodged the blow. "Kaa-chan, stop it. I'm pretty sure I'm beyond the whole sex lecture thing, dattebayo."

"Maybe, but it's my job to keep you in line," she said with a depressing aura while sitting down. "I don't want my only son to turn into a lech."

"Don't worry about that, Kaa-chan," Naruto said as he sat near her. "The thing with Tsunade was unexpected. As for Ino, well that just sorta happened. I mean I know Tou-chan didn't want to give me those memories seeing how he had a human sized claw through his stomach at the time. But watching him and you going at it like rabbits in three out five times when I slept, outright scarred me. I didn't ask to see how I was born."

"Well," Kushina said trying to make up an excuse about her and Minato's active lifestyle to keep things kinky.

She failed.

"On top of that, it was you," Naruto continued, not really caring to sugarcoat his words. "I mean look at you. You're a freaking goddess with those violet eyes, red hair and face that'll make any man's breathe hitch. You can't really blame for not having a crush on you at one point."

…

"Really?" Kushina asked curiously. Then it morphed into a teasing smile, "Naru-chan had a crush on his Kaa-chan?"

"Stop it," Naruto grumbled, her poking his cheeks didn't help. "It took a lot of time, mind tampering, sex with Ino and Tsunade to temporarily forget about you."

"Perv," she said, rubbing more salt into his wound.

"Deal with it. I could say the same about you two," Naruto said and for a moment nothing was said between the two. Kushina started giggling which morphed into a full-blown laughter. It was infectious and Naruto soon joined her.

"So," she spoke again, "were you serious about the crush part?"

"As wrong as it sounds, yes. You can't blame me though," Naruto said, not looking at the redhead who ruffled his hair. He felt like a child, which he wasn't, but he'd let her have this. She was his mom after all.

"Don't worry Naru-chan," Kushina said. "My boy is already this handsome and strong. You'll find someone like your Kaa-chan. Who knows she might be even more beautiful than me, dattebane?"

"I doubt that," Naruto said. "Seriously, I'd have to find your doppelganger." Then a gloomy expression took over his face as he could feel her chakra signature slowly fading away.

It wasn't fair…he had just met his mother for the first time in his life. True, he had seen memories of her from his father's projection of transferred memories. But that didn't changed the fact he was seeing his mother for the last time.

"How much longer can you stay Kaa-chan?" Naruto said with a downed expression.

"Not much." Kushina replied sadly. She then looked at her son knowing that she only had a few select words left to say.

"I know I don't have much time, son. So listen closely."

Naruto merely listened to the words his mother said. This was possibly the last time he would ever speak to her. He deserved more time with her. He deserved more time with his father. He had just known them for a few minutes and they were leaving him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry we couldn't be there for you when you grew up. Because of us you had to live a life scorned and hated. You never knew what it was like to have parents," Kushina choked out, tears fell freely. It was still a miracle, how her son hadn't outright hated his parents for doing this to him.

He had a strong heart, her son. Like a true Uzumaki.

"Oi, don't worry about that Kaa-chan," Naruto said with a grin.

He slowly put his hand over his chest as he spoke, "I never hated you guys for that. In fact, deep down I knew that you guys loved me. And besides, having fuzzy isn't such a burden. Well it wasn't, and I guess it was because I always sort of knew that my parents were looking out for me even if they weren't here. Looks like I was right, dattebayo!"

The moment he finished he felt a familiar sense of warmth around him. His mother was hugging him. He too hugged back and gripped her as tightly as he could. He could see the lower portions of her body fading into golden dust, disappearing into nothing.

"Don't give up until the very end, Naruto. But something tells me you won't. You're my son after all," She said as she laughed and cried at the same time.

"Damn right I am!" he replied with a tone of confidence. Her form was fading even further. Only her upper body portion remained as she said her last words to her son in this world.

"Thank you for letting me be your mother and for letting Minato be your father. Thank you for being our son. Thank you, Naruto."

. . .

"Damn it, you made me tear up Kaa-chan," he said to no one as he stood alone in the inner shell of his mindscape.

Even beyond death, his parents had helped him. He closed his eyes as the last few drops of tear fell and vanished. He opened his eyes as the blue orbs shined with determination. Whatever doubts had previously plagued his mind had disappeared, as he channeled the Kyūbi's chakra to gain a golden cloak of chakra covering his body. With this power, he would stop the Akatsuki.

Madara, Tobi, whatever he called himself… he was the last hurdle.

 _'This should be enough to take him down,'_ Naruto thought to himself. _'From Tou-chan's memories, Madara's biggest weapon is his intangibility. If I can just time my attacks right, I should be able to defeat him.'_

Deactivating the form inside his mindscape, his thoughts went to back to everything that transpired after he was recognized as a hero those three historic months ago. Sasuke joining the Akatsuki. Danzo's attempt in becoming the Godaime and being killed by the Avenger. The truth behind the Uchiha Massacre being revealed to all.

Naruto clenched his fist and cleared his mind. He would keep his promise and break this cycle of violence. This was something he owed to not only his master, his parents, Nagato, but to every single shinobi who had to die because of flames war and hatred brought forth.

Or Uzumaki Naruto would die trying.

* * *

 **||xXxXx—HNSWH—xXxXx||**

* * *

 **Author's Notes II:** I'm going to end the chapter here; four scenes are enough. Anymore and it would've felt a bit campy to read, regardless of the word count. Now, there will be some changes in the story from last time around. I know a lot of you might be a tad bit pissed about the rewrite, but I had to fix a lot of things with pacing and characterization being the largest problems. So, no need to drop this story from your favs or follows just yet, cause if you thought the first version was good, then you're going to like the new version even better. Make sure to review and if you can't PM me about it. Take care, guys. Goodbye.


	2. Day of the Hero

**Author's Notes I:** A lot of people have been repeatedly reviewing that I made a bad decision in deciding to rewrite. Funny how I'm receiving backlash from people who never gave any actual advice, but are complaining about the fact that the old story is gone. For those who liked the old version, I uploaded it. Honestly speaking, I don't care about favs and follows anymore. It doesn't mean shit. Dastan Go and nemesisqueer's stories don't have half the favs this story alone has. Yet their works are so much better than mine. When I saw shitty stories with multiple bloodlines in 1 person getting over 2k+ favs and follows, it lost all meaning to me.

* * *

 **Still nowhere nearing to getting the rights to Naruto. But one of these days, I will. Mark my words!**

* * *

 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

The shadow of death loomed over Uchiha Obito.

Birds chirped as Kakashi reappeared from the spatial distortion that existed in one of his eyes.

Seeing Obito alive shook him. He had adopted the Uchiha's ideals on camaraderie they played a large part in his life. Witnessing the person he thought dead to be responsible for the deaths of Minato, Kushina, and countless others in the war took a toll on him. Obito caused doubt to surface, especially regarding Rin's death.

Of course, it was Naruto who broke him out of that self-loathing and provided the push he needed to face his former teammate in the Kamui dimension. Kakashi won the battle, but at a steep price as the Uchiha escaped leaving the masked jōnin with a nasty wound.

Obito managed to stab Kakashi in the chest, and if it weren't for years of working through pain, he would've lost consciousness. He needed to time tend to his injuries on the spot and mentally praised the Shinobi Alliance for coming up with the Emergency Aid Scroll that was planned out by the Godaime Hokage. The Copy Ninja carefully and patiently closed the wound, making sure there was less room for it to hinder his abilities later. He took two soldier pills, letting his chakra build up.

Travelling out of the Kamui Dimension would take a good amount of chakra, and considering the plan of action he had already set forth, Kakashi would need to conserve another chunk of it for a specific purpose. When he saw - from his shared vision with Obito's other Sharingan - Naruto and Sasuke fighting against Obito, he bided his time.

The Copy Ninja's faith in his two students solidified when he felt the dimension shake and slowly collapsing, and Kakashi used his chakra to emerge out while making hand seals at the same time.

Now, he stared down at the limping form of Uchiha Obito. A former shell of the great person that Kakashi knew, a man he failed and a shinobi the Sharingan wielder looked up to.

The person on the ground, white haired, withered and desperately clinging to life was not Uchiha Obito. This was Tobi, as Kakashi now called him inside his mind. A man who orphaned Naruto on the day of his birth, a mastermind responsible for the Bloody Mist's internal conflict, a human who sought to wring freedom from humanity and trap them in an endless dream world.

Whatever doubts that lingered inside his mind had vanished, and Kakashi would end this. This was his responsibility, his students had done enough.

"Kakashi," the Copy Ninja turned towards Sasuke, the raven haired teen looked weary. "If you're going to kill him, don't waste more time."

" **Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)** ," Kakashi muttered as the chirping of birds slowly decreased, and the coalesced lightning sharpened to resemble a blade.

"Sensei," he heard Naruto speak, who was still in Sage Mode. It was good to watch how the blond didn't let his guard down, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," the Copy Ninja replied, his voice firm. "This person isn't Obito, not anymore. You two have done enough; now rest."

Seeing Naruto nod and Sasuke following him gave Kakashi all the confirmation he needed. The jōnin looked at the withered, white haired man, his body slumped against the cold rocks a few steps away. His breathing hoarse, followed by an occasional choke and he was trying to say something.

"K-Kakashi," he muttered out. "W-What the hell are you waiting for?"

"I want you to look me in the eye when I end you. I want you to realize you were wrong. That all this was for nothing," Kakashi replied.

He heard laughter. It was empty and Kakashi could hear the hopelessness in it. He saw how the former Jinchūriki finally began to shed tears as he continued his chortle. It went on for some time before the broken man spoke.

"B…Bakashi," he said and for a single moment Kakashi faltered.

The image of the broken man was replaced by a cheerful teen wearing goggles, adorning a stupid expression on his face. Memories hammered their way into the Copy Ninja's mind as he repressed them. He told himself this wasn't Obito, this wasn't his comrade. This man was a murderer, a being seeking to bring order through chaos and trapping the entire world to get his way.

"D-Do it," the man whispered as he cried. "End it. D-Do it before Madara makes me," and once again he coughed, spitting out blood as he choked on his ragged breaths.

Once more, Kakashi faltered. He had been preparing to be the cold blooded killer he was back during his ANBU tenure, but it seemed that staying with Naruto had rubbed off on him a bit. Before Kakashi could say anything, his eyes witnessed a black ooze making its way out of the ground.

A face could be seen, its eyes white as a smile could be seen on the sludgy creature. _'Black Zetsu,'_ the Copy Ninja thought. But it was supposed to be imprisoned by the Hiraishin Squad unless they caught a…clone.

"N-No," Obito weakly rasped out, as Kakashi saw the shadow like being extend its body like fluid as it latched on to the downed Uchiha. Kakashi knew it would be too late by the time he covered the distance, yet he still dashed forward as the lightning cackled menacingly.

The world narrowed down for the Copy Ninja, his Sharingan eye focused on Obito and Zetsu as he rushed. However, he stopped himself when he saw Zetsu disappear when a yellow flash. For a single moment, he saw a silhouette of an orange clad person appear and just as quickly disappear with the shadow like creature.

"K-Kakashi," Obito spoke, his tone barely above a whisper. "Do it . . . _please_."

 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

"Sasuke!"

Birds chirpled as the Uchiha's lightning encased sword pierced through the flesh of Black Zetsu. The Avenger's chokuto cut clean through its back and into the earth, pinning it to the ground.

At the same time, Naruto weaved through hand seals before he slammed them on the ground. Black letters spread across the ground Zetsu was lying on, a seal made specifically to harden the ground and not let anything pass through it.

The black creature's **Hiding In Surface Jutsu** was similar to Orochimaru's and Jiraiya had developed a seal for it specifically. The pedo-snake's retreat technique was a tricky one and this seal was one of the few ways to negate it. Naruto was now glad he had kept copies of all the perverted sage's techniques on Mt. Myoboku. Of course, Sasuke's sword helped too. But it was his seal that kept the escape artist in place. Yeah, badass him.

"I knew I sensed someone else here. Thanks to your last little surge of malice before you jumped Obito, I was able to sense _exactly_ where you were," Naruto spoke, a cheeky smile on his face. "At first I was confused cause your chakra felt a bit like the Jūbi's, a bit like Shodai-jiji too. Then I noticed how you kept moving around but I couldn't see anyone. Mind explaining that bit?"

"Naruto, what are you doing?" the blond didn't miss annoying tone in Sasuke's voice. "We have another thing to take care of."

"Give me a minute. Stop having a stick up your ass for once," the blond snapped back. The Uchiha glared, grunted and looked away. Naruto mentally congratulated himself for shutting up his former, soon-to-be again teammate. He faced the malleable thing again and continued, "Now, where were we?"

" **You think you scare me, _boy_?"** it asked, and the blond could feel the condescension in his, err its voice. " **Soon, Madara-sama will get to him and _when_ he does, you're all doomed."**

"For someone who's going to be trapped in a dream world, you sure seem eager about it," Naruto said, his mind ridden of all his former amusement. "Even Kurama's saying the same. Hell, he says that your chakra seems familiar to another person."

Naruto saw how Black Zetsu's face suddenly looked flabbergasted. Granted there weren't exactly solid facial features, but the blond did pick it up courtesy of Kurama's Emotion Sensing Service.

" **Listening to a beast now. Here I thought you were different**."

 _' **Oi, Naruto,** '_ Kurama spoke in his mind. The Kyūbi no Kitsune a sign of death to all, but a newfound friend to the blond, continued, _' **He's getting nervous.** '_

 _'Yeah, I noticed,'_ Naruto said in his mind. _'Something doesn't feel right.'_

 _' **No need to take chances. Kill him.** '_

Six months ago, Naruto would've immediately shunned such a thought. But Jiraiya's death and seeing the true hurdles that his father faced as a shinobi, not to mention his own experiences proved that there were just some people who could never be helped.

There were some who could only get that many chances, Zetsu was not one of them. Hell, Naruto still had plans to kill Obito if things went south. While the former Leaf nin did have regrets – tons of them – he was still a threat, the sole reason why Naruto was an orphan. He wasn't perfect. Far from it, the blond was just as flawed as anyone out there and his mercy, large as it was, did have its limits.

"Alright then," Naruto spoke, Sage Mode still activated as his right hand showed the kanji letter for sword.

One puff of smoke later, the blond had a katana in his hand. Unsheathed, the hamon on the edge of the blade seemed to exude menace. The near silver gleam reflecting off of it certainly didn't help, and with a swift motion Naruto stabbed it into Kuro Zetsu's shoulder.

A writhing muffle of pain was heard, as the near invisible coat of wind surrounding the blade proceeded to slash further into the flesh. Black blood oozed out of the victim, as Naruto mentally had a conversation with Kurama. They were yet to be recharged from their scuffle which had lasted for more than twelve hours apparently. Fighting on the battlefield in a war, truly did mess with perception.

In their small chat, Kurama guided Naruto to say something to Zetsu. It was just a hunch on the Biju's part. Nothing more than that, but the Kitsune was pretty damned sure it might bring out a reaction. Probably.

 _' **No promises,** '_ Kurama said in his mind, just to ensure of that fact. Stupid fox.

"Kaguya," Naruto said and almost immediately Kuro Zetsu's head snapped up to meet his. The blond grinned, "Hit that on right on the nail, dattebayo."

"Naruto," Sasuke spoke, his eyebrow raised as he still held the chokuto streaming lightning to paralyze the creature. "Who's Kaguya?"

"Well, according to Kurama," Naruto said before he pulled the blade out of Zetsu's shoulder. "She's a Goddess, or the closest thing to a real Goddess."

". . . Elaborate," came the swift reply from the Uchiha.

"You heard of the Sage of Six Paths?" Naruto asked, and took the raven haired teen's silence as his answer. "Well, apparently Kaguya was this Sage's mom. Oh, and she's also the Jūbi."

"What?" the Uchiha questioned.

Naruto couldn't blame Sasuke for that. He himself found out, _now_ no less. If Kurama was a little more cooperative from the beginning he could've known this shit beforehand. Damn foxes and their pride. They would be the death of him one day.

 _' **Getting a bit over yourself now, Naruto,** '_ Kurama said, a bit…dangerously. ' _ **You know what, maybe I'll just stop holding Sage Mode and-** '_

 _'Oi!'_ Naruto mentally yelled while trying to keep a calm façade. Though if one were to look closer, the beads of sweat and throbbing nerves on the blond's face looked amusing. _'Not now, especially since Shodaime-Jiji is fighting Madara-teme.'_

 _' **Hmph** ,_' the Kyūbi no Kitsune grunted, quite uncharacteristically if Naruto was to guess. ' _ **Fine, but after this I want some peace and quiet. Also, you're going to change this place. A sewer is not worthy to accommodate someone as great as me**.'_

"Are you listening?" Sasuke's voice shook him out, clearly the raven haired teen was getting tired of waiting. The jerk.

"Right," Naruto said, "the Jūbi is the tree combined with Kaguya. Apparently the old hag is much stronger than the Rikudō jiji and his brother."

"He had a brother?"

"Yeah, Byakugan wielder apparently," Naruto said with somewhat of an amused tone. "Makes me wonder how much of a bitch she was-"

" **SHUT UP!"** Zetsu yelled and tried to get up, before Sasuke simply twisted the blade increasing the pressure and the lightning stream. Yet, the defiance in its eyes didn't waver as it spoke, " **Mother is far above you humans.** "

' _ **Yup**_ ,' the Kyūbi spoke, ' _ **I was right. This guy, thing, whatever the fuck he is works for Kaguya. If what Oyaji(Old Man) said about her is true, you need to finish this Naruto. Even with me at full power, you wouldn't be able to beat her**._ '

 _'And that,'_ Naruto mentally replied, ' _is all the incentive I need.'_

Did he want to take on a Goddess that Kurama didn't want to fight? No chance in hell.

The old him, he'd rush first and ask questions later. Now, he needed to think a bit carefully before going in all guns blazing. A little planning never hurt, and Naruto drew back the katana as wind laced chakra coated the length of the blade. It let out somewhat of a hissing sound, similar to how a snake coils back before striking as Naruto horizontally slashed Zetsu across the face.

A squelch was heard as the black creature's face split in two, more ooze spread like spilled water as it covered the surface. Its body shook violently, gushing out the dark liquid as a disgusting smell covered the area. Naruto retched a bit before jumping away, Sasuke lifted his hold the moment when the blond's sword struck the now dead Zetsu's face.

"Somehow," Naruto said with a groan, "instead of making me puke, that just made me hungry."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, clearly out of disgust at the words the blond said.

"Oh don't you 'Hn' me, Teme," Naruto said with a hint of familiarity. "I know exactly what you meant by that."

"Hn."

"Really? Loser? That's all you have to say?"

"Hn."

"You're lucky you're endearing."

"…What?"

"I meant as a friend, you ass. Honestly hanging out with Orochimaru has messed your sexual orientation more than I thought."

"As if you'd know better."

"I do you…wait. Don't tell me," Naruto said with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Oh Log, you're still a virgin."

"…"

"Denial through silence. Seems like your MO."

"…"

"Wait you're not? Who? When?"

"…"

"Seriously? You're just going to ignore me?"

"…"

"Fine, be murky." Whatever else they wanted to say to each other was left unsaid as they both heard footsteps approaching them.

Neither the Uzumaki or Uchiha could claim to have seen Hatake Kakashi this tired, tired of everything. His right arm painted a dark red, as warm, sticky liquid fell from it to the earth. Kakashi then lifted said arm and opened his fist. A single eyeball rested in his bloody hand, lavender and purple draped on it with concentric rings spreading all over the eyeball. For a moment the three curiously looked at the single Rinnegan. Thoughts lingered in their minds. Kakashi crushed it in his hand with all the force he could muster.

More blood leaked through his enclosed hand before he let it drop to the ground. It looked more like a paper now, a dirty paper with smears of red on it.

"Why did you destroy it?" Sasuke spoke, breaking the momentary silence.

"Obito told me to," Kakashi replied, as if it were the most simple reason in the world. "Madara would've probably found another way to come back in a solid manner."

"That's not a bad thing. Rinnegan users are a pain in the ass, no pun intended," Naruto said as Kakashi shook his head.

A large force shook the area as many people were blasted off the very ground. Red torii gates flew somewhere near them and Naruto's eyes widened as he heard a yell of fury echoing in the battlefield. Thankfully, Naruto was still retaining his Sage Mode, so he could sense exactly where this chaos emerged from.

"I don't mean to be that guy," Naruto said, a tad bit nervously, "but that was the same thing that Pein used against me."

"Madara," Kakashi said as all three of their eyes looked at the direction where Madara and Hashirama were still fighting.

The landscape, of course, had changed due to the freakish nature of their battle capacity and from the looks of it even the Edo Tensei were slowly running on empty as neither of them saw a giant humanoids made of blue ethereal chakra or Adamantium-like wood not roaming around.

"We need to seal him," Naruto said as he prepared to launch off.

"We need to come up with a plan first," the voice of Senju Tobirama said as he arrived, with Namikaze Minato sans one arm. "Yondaime and I previously got close, until he used that repulsion technique."

"All my Hiraishin kunai around that area are gone too," Minato added, his tone grave serious.

"I'm low on chakra at the moment," Sasuke said, and it was true. The Uchiha had used up a lot of chakra in the fight against Obito in his Jinchūriki form and Naruto himself was a bit tired.

"Soldier pills?" the Nidaime Hokage asked and all three, living, shinobi shook their heads. The Senju looked at the source of the booming noises coming in, "Madara sensed that Obito was dead and later used that technique of his."

"So, we got a pissed off, undead Rinnegan user after us? Just great," Naruto said as he cleaned a sheen of sweat from his forehead.

"Shodaime-sama has been slowing down ever since he got struck with those black rods," Minato said and that got Naruto's attention.

"Wait, wait, wait! Black rods!" he yelled and two undead Hokage nodded their heads. "This is bad. This is really bad, we need to go help him, now!"

As Naruto dashed off, all the other shinobi followed him. Minato happened to be the closest to him, "Naruto, are those the same black rods that-"

"Yeah," the blond said. "I didn't think Madara used it on Shodaime-jiji already."

"What's going on exactly?" Tobirama asked as he caught up along with the others.

"The black rods," Minato explained, "they can paralyze all movements. Touching them without natural energy only causes more harm, and the victims impaled with it can't move freely."

"Then Madara," Tobirama said, contempt lacing his words. "He's been letting Nii-san gain the upper hand this whole time, considering how long he's been stabbed with those. Just waiting for the right time."

"You've gotta be kidding me," Naruto said as all of them saw a blue, incomplete Susanoo form around Madara's frame. Even from a far distance, the large human like being with two faces could be seen making hand seals. "Oh fuck."

As all of them kept rushing forward, a shadow covered the entire landscape. The moonlight dimmed as darkness spread like a plague across the landscapes. All shinobi, kunoichi and the Bijū looked up. A cold sweat run down the spines of mortals as a large asteroid descended from the heavens and almost all of the shinobi stood still.

"Damn it! It's that jutsu again!" Naruto yelled out of frustration. If he had Kurama's chakra mode right now, maybe he could do something. Right now he could perform three S Ranked – or a bit above that class – techniques and then the natural energy would run out.

"What is that?" Sasuke asked, his eyes widened at the sheer size of the falling celestial body as it was falling slowly to create more suspense.

"I don't know the fucking name. But there's two large boulders falling, not one," Naruto said as he was preparing to make Shadow Clones.

Madara would have to wait for the moment. Maybe with the Nidaime and his dad, Naruto could teleport them out of here. But he had to time it right, and he was a bit low on chakra at the moment.

"Damn it!" Naruto yelled as he stopped and was about to make clones. It seemed he didn't have a choice. He still had _that_ technique left, but with the amount of chakra he had, he couldn't pull it off and given the circumstance of now…he didn't have a choice.

Before he could though, he was stopped by a voice.

" **Oi brat!"** an inhumane, loud yell came and Naruto couldn't stop the grin forming on his face. Son Goku, the Yonbi and the other Bijū were rushing towards the two asteroids. " **Leave those falling testicles to us. Go seal that bastard."**

" **Finally I get to get loose!"** Shukaku yelled with glee and his excitement towards destruction was well appreciated at the moment.

" **Must you two be so crude,** " Isobu said with a bit of disdain.

" **Higher, Chomei. We'll hit the ones above and these guys can blast the debris,"** Matatabi, the blue flamed nekomata said as the flying kabutowari carried it in the skyline.

" **I'm trying, Tabi. You're heavier than you look,** " the Nanabi said as it struggled a bit.

" **That's kind of rude. We all weigh the same, except Kurama-nii and Gyuki-nii,** " Saiken said as it rushed alongside its other siblings.

" **Well I don't see them around,** " Kokuo said a bit haughtily as the horse-dolphin beast raced faster than the others. " **Chomei, Matatabi you two need to hit it first! We'll blast whatever remains."**

Tobirama disbelievingly looked at how the Tailed Beasts were rushing to help the Allied Shinobi Force. "I've never seen anything like that."

"You should see Kurama, guy can be serious asshole at times," Naruto quipped.

He saw up to see two large spheres of black, purple and red chakra forming near Matatabi and Chomei. A sonic sound cut through the wind as the two gigantic spheres of energy shot off at high speeds and hit something in the sky. A large crashing noise came as thousands of falling boulders rained from the sky. Naruto and the others felt the shockwave that came from the sky and that wasn't the end of it.

Shukaku, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuo and Saiken were preparing to launch equally gigantic spheres as well. Then Shukaku, Son Goku and Saiken blasted theirs as the three small planet like orbs were fired at the falling asteroid and upon impact, a scene of complete oblivion was seen as a white light shone in the dark sky.

Kokuo and Isobu then blasted their own Bijūdama at the falling debris, and the result was obvious. The thousands of falling boulders were removed from existence. Silence reigned supreme for a moment, before all the remaining members of the Allie Shinobi Force cheered in victory.

They cheered for the Tailed Beasts, the very same beasts that they had long since despised. From when the Hidden Village system came to be and now, things had changed.

"The era of shinobi," Tobirama said with a hint of a smile, "its changed from what I remember."

"We can all talk about this later," Sasuke said, not really looking to socialize from Naruto's perspective. "We have to seal Madara first."

"You know what, Teme?" Naruto said. "For once, I agree with you."

In the back of his mind, Naruto knew that the Uchiha had changed. Cold and antisocial is what came to define Uchiha Sasuke. The reason behind why the blond had unyielding faith in Sasuke was simple. Itachi's reanimation had successfully used the Kotoamatsukami on the Avenger, after Naruto used a Contract Seal to break Kabuto's hold over the former Akatsuki member.

"I feel like killing myself now," Sasuke added as an afterthought.

"Log damn it, Teme!"

 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

"Stupid beasts," Madara said with contempt. "I'll have to change my plans for the moment."

"You're not going anywhere," Hashirama said, his Edo Tensei form riddled with the Black Receivers. The Shodaime made the ram seal once more, "Our time has long since passed Madara. There's no need to bring back our ghosts here in the now."

"You're still blind as ever, Hashirama," the undead Uchiha said. Madara then made a ram seal and the Mokuton user felt a foreign chakra seeping into his circuits. His entire body buckled under the weight as his Edo Tensei frame cracked like glass, skin fell off like paper as Madara walked forward. Standing in front of the now kneeling Senju, the Ghost of the Uchiha spoke.

"You honestly think this alliance between the villages will last. You're even bigger fool than you were back then," Madara said, disappointed at his rival.

"You're wrong," Hashirama, spoke with stoic determination in his eyes. "This generation is different. They're the dream we once sought to complete, Madara. Why can't you just accept it?"

"Speaking to you is pointless," the Uchiha said as a black rod emerged from his palm and pierced into Hashirama's chest. "It's only a matter of time, Hashirama. I will achieve my goal. Obito may be gone. I'll just use someone else to bring me back."

"Another Rinnegan, huh?" Hashirama barely spoke as he felt his natural energy leaving his body.

"It doesn't matter. None of this matters. No one here that can match me, much less seal me," Madara said, a twisted smile forming on his face. "I'll just bide my time, kill everyone, keep one alive to bring me back. Then use the Mugen Tsukuyomi."

"You'll fail," the Shodaime said, as the last of the red and black markings on his face disappeared. "Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke will stop you."

"A brat who doesn't come close to my level will beat me?" Madara said, in mirth. "And the Kyūbi brat with his flashy jutsu hopes to stand a chance? Hashirama, both you and I could crush them."

"They have something we don't."

"Humor me then," Madara said. "What exactly do they have that I don't?"

"A dream worth fighting for," Hashirama smiled, before another black rod went through his chest as his frame cracked further.

"I'll kill them both. An Uchiha who fights for your peace is already a lost cause, and as for the Kyūbi brat . . . He's the linchpin here," Madara said as he drawing his hand, senses became sharper with added enhancement of Senjutsu. "He's the one tying this whole thing up. In fact, he almost reminds me of you. Only more stupid."

"His name," Hashirama said, defiant as ever, "is Uzumaki Naruto. He is the one who will bring that peace. Even though I've known him for a short while, he's earned my trust. The entire shinobi forces are looking upto."

"I won't deny that," Madara said as he felt some chakra signatures approaching him. Most of them were fodder in his mind, "But if I kill him first, the entire thing will fall apart. Say if I were to fail and he were to die, there would be no alliance anymore. Go ahead, say I'm wrong."

"You are."

"I'm not," Madara said as he saw the battalion of shinobi approaching him. "You think it's mere conviction of the Uzumaki brat that's keeping them in line? No, Hashirama. It's fear. Fear of how strong he is. He's allied with the Tailed Beasts, he's mastered the power of the Kyūbi, has an advanced form of Tobirama's jutsu. No village in their right mind would break the peace as long as he and that Uchiha brat is around."

Madara kicked Hashirama away like a discarded toy as he crashed into the distant stony wall. Making the necessary hand seals he prepared for a jutsu while using his feet as weapon to drive away members of the Allied Shinobi Force that came rushing in. Or kill, as the first two died upon contact with his feet. He needed to take care of the Tailed Beasts first. Bind them and keep them in place before he could find someone to bring him back to life. Black Zetsu was dead from what he sensed, Madara swerved away as he grabbed a kunai with his teeth. He then slashed a random shinobi in the face before carving his way through several more.

Finishing the hand seals after infusing the right amount of chakra, he slammed his palms together before slowly separating them. A small black sphere between his hands and it slightly spun, before it kept growing larger. Madara then literally threw the sphere into the sky above as it kept growing larger.

" **Shin: Chibaku Tensei (True: Planetary Devastation)** " Madara said as he made the snake seal. The surface beneath his feet was torn asunder.

The black sphere above spun on its axis, as everything around it was being drawn towards it. All the shinobi that previously charged at Madara were being sucked into the warping sphere as the very earth cracked and flew past them. Madara of course skipped and hopped on the ascending collection of debris as his Rinnegan eyes found the Tailed Beasts waiting to confront him. Soon enough, he had gotten out of the range of the jutsu as he looked forward to imprisoning his pets.

"I'm coming for you, filthy beasts," Madara said and before he knew it, black flames covered his entire body. Granted it didn't hurt, much, but it was annoying and slowed him down. Using Shinra Tensei to get rid of the flames, he prepared once more but his eyes caught a kunai passing in front of him. In an instant, Tobirama appeared in front of him. Instinctually, Madara grabbed the kunai that the Senju aimed for him and blocked a kick with his foot midair.

"Only you can come up with the shrewdest methods, Tobirama," the Uchiha said and saw the Senju smirk at him.

"True."

Not less than a millisecond passed when a yellow flash appeared above Tobirama. It was the other wielder of the Kyūbi who had a blue orb of chakra in his hand. Madara, simply raised his hand to absorb the jutsu.

"Useless," the Uchiha said and was preparing to swat them away, but the blond Hokage's words caught him off guard.

"We are, she's not," the blond said before another copy of his emerged from above, and with him was Hashirama's granddaughter. Her foot extended, aiming for his forehead as his bearing was changed by Tobirama.

"Absorb this!" Senju Tsunade yelled as her foot hammered down on the Uchiha's face making him fly a fair distance away from them and creating a large crated where he fell.

 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

 _'Is it wrong that I have a boner right now?'_ Naruto asked himself as he saw Tsunade literally bitch-kicking Madara away from them. Tsunade, in the bedroom, was…wild to say the least but seeing her kick away an undead, legendary shinobi was just so-

 _'_ ** _Naruto, focus_!** ' Kurama yelled inside his mind. ' _ **You humans and inappropriate habit for rutting with each other at the wrong time is disgusting.** '_

 _'Shut up, you asexual fox. You just jealous cause you don't get some…or any,'_ Naruto thought as he and two other clones were busy creating Ōdoma Rasengan. Then each of them separately began to add a change in nature to them. Lightning cracked, water swirled and winds screeched as the three blue spheres began to gain additional features. Water danced around one of them, thrusting about to unleash waves. Lightning chirped as six ellipses revolved around another, the sphere sharpened at one end as well. Finally, the last one had white shuriken like blades spun with high velocities as it screeched.

Naruto calmly prepared one of his most devastating collaborating jutsu at the small planetoid. Once he was in launching range, he prepared to unleash it knowing full well that some shinobi may die from the effect of it. But it had to be done.

" **Suiton: Ōdoma Rasen Hahonryū (Water Release: Giant Spiraling Ripping Torrent)**!"

" **Raiton: Ōdoma Rasen Rakurai (Lightning Release: Giant Spiraling Lightning Bolt)**!"

" **Fūton: Ōdoma Rasenshuriken (Wind Release: Giant Spiraling Shuriken)**!"

All three jutsu launched simultaneously as they went with high speeds towards the moon-like structure, cutting through the debris and unfortunately some bodies before finally hitting the black core of Madara's jutsu. A large explosion occurred, as the shockwaves shook the area around it for two whole minutes before it settled down.

Then all the flying debris in the air fell down along with the shinobi who were smart enough to somehow evade the falling boulders.

"I...am…taking…a vacation after this," Naruto panted out, his Sage Mode finally running out of juice. He sat down and saw Sasuke munching on a soldier pill. "Where the heck did you get that?"

"Swapped one off someone nearby," Sasuke said as he swallowed the pill. A look of dissatisfaction crossed his face, "It's not enough."

Naruto and Sasuke saw how Madara had gotten up and was now fighting against the Five Kage, the Bijū and so many others with his Susanoo. It was frustrating to see just how powerful he was, but Naruto noted something when Sasuke spoke.

"Is he slowing down?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, he is," Naruto said but it wasn't slow enough as Madara revealed his own set of black flames to kill so many around him. "Oh great. He's got black flames too."

"Naruto," Sasuke said as he got up. "Do you have anything that will work against him?"

"Just one," Naruto said and Uchiha noted the grim tone of his voice.

"Will it work?"

"It will," the blond replied and Sasuke nodded before bolting off towards where Madara was. Purple aura surrounded the Uchiha as his Susanoo came to life and went straight for Madara.

 _'I don't have a choice,'_ Naruto told himself.

 _' **Oi, Naruto,** '_ Kurama spoke. ' _ **Are you sure about this? You do realize what'll happen to you?** '_

 _'I know. And I 'm not looking forward to it either,'_ Naruto said with a sad smile. ' _What'll happen to you?'_

 _'_ ** _I don't know. Never really died before_ ,**' Kurama said.

 _'But you will come back, right?'_

 _' **Eventually**.'_

 _'That's good_ ,' Naruto said. ' _After all that shit you've been through for so long, it'll be nice to get some respect.'_

 _' **I don't need respect. All they need to do is fear me.** '_

 _'Oh don't you start that shit again.'_

 _' **Fine**.'_

 _'Kurama, can you lend me some chakra…one last time, buddy?'_

 _…_

 _' **I don't have enough, nor does my other half. We need more time.'**_

 _'It's a shame we don't have that,' the blond said, dishearteningly. 'Well, I guess I could always-'_

 _' **Now, hold on there,**_ ' Kurama cut him off. _' **You're just going to give up.** '_

 _'Honestly, no. I was thinking of pulling off a self-destructive jutsu…but last time I checked, I'm not that "Art is an explosion" guy,'_ Naruto said with a deadpan expression.

 _' **Well glad to see you haven't given up. As for the chakra problem leave that to me,'**_ the Kyūbi said as it took in a deep breath. _' **MINIONS GIVE THE IDIOT YOUR CHAKRA!'**_

"Ah!" Naruto clutched his years from the sudden shout Kurama gave. "What the fuck was that Kurama? It hurt my body more than I thought!"

 _' **Not now, fleshbag,** '_ Kurama chided, _' **I know all of you heard me. The kid's got a plan that'll work. So whatever the hell you idiots are trying to pull off, stop it and lend the kid some chakra.** '_

Before Naruto could say a word, his eyes caught a reddish orange like glow emanating from the battlefield. It looked like smoke if he was to be honest, fast travelling, highly concentrated smoke that was aiming right for him.

Oh shit!

 _' **Don't dodge,**_ ' Kurama said making him halt his action. ' _ **That's pure Bijū chakra coming in, foreign one no less, and if I don't adjust it properly… Well, you're going to shit yourself.**_ '

 _'You're kidding about the last part, right?_ ' Naruto asked, half expecting it to be a joke. The vermilion hued fluid was getting closer to him.

' ** _No_ ,**' Kurama replied, ' _ **Now, squeeze your butt in. Cause this is going to be more painful than that time you drank expired milk.**_ '

"Oh, FUUUUUUUCK!" Naruto yelled as the foreign chakra hit him with full force and was entering his body. Pain was the only thing he could feel right now. His flesh was on fire, his nerves became ice and his mind was on the point of breaking. Still, he stood his ground as his body absorbed the large volume of chakra.

Luckily, the pain ceased after a few minutes as smoke came off his body. He fell on his knees, and panted heavily. His hands looked it had cracked, similar to the ones an Edo Tensei had on them. Then the marks slowly receded before his normal complexion returned.

'What. The. Fuck. Was. That?' Naruto asked as he felt rejuvenated, but there were some stiff spots as he finally stood up.

 _' **That was me opening Seven Gates in your body. If I didn't, you'd already be dead,** '_ Kurama said.

 _'So, I'm part Bijū now?'_ Naruto asked as he prepared to take off into battle.

 _' **No, it was so I could moderate the chakra. Don't get above your spot in the food chain,** '_ the Kitsune finished and Naruto mentally chuckled at the words.

"Well," the blond said, "I guess it's time to end it all."

 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

" **Rinbo: Hengoku (Limbo: Border Jail)** " Madara muttered as a shadow of himself moved around and kicked two Bijū away. The technique relied on him making a 'clone' of sorts that separated from his body, it moved around due to its invisibility and took care of some of the problems he had.

It was getting annoying in his opinion. The fact that his body was getting slower, for some reason he was yet to find out, didn't help. The Uchiha brat was putting up a good fight as well with a complete body Susanoo. The Ghost assumed that his eyes had the same chok tomoe as his, hence the fluid movement in his stance. Madara's Susanoo, much to his inner shame, had been destroyed by the Bijū when all of them decided to barrage him with seven Tailed Beasts Bombs at full power. On top of that, the brat with the Sharingan was causing him problems with Enton. Of course he stopped that technique by showcasing his own versatility with Amaterasu.

Then came the children Kage who were escaping his grasps with the help of Tobirama and, he assumed, the Kyūbi Jinchūriki's father. As much as Madara wanted to unleash Tengai Shinsei or Chibaku Tensei, his chakra started to become rigid whenever he used too much of it. The Ghost had honed his chakra control for years, _years_ , and there were very few who could even hope to match his level. Yet, this day was starting to wear on him.

The natural energy did come in handy when dodging the attacks, but it still wasn't enough for him.

Sasuke rushed forward with his chokuto, the blade going straight for Madara's heart. The Ghost, having lived through enough battles, sidestepped and let the blade pierce his arm. Pain was nothing new to Madara, and with his other hand, he gripped the blade not letting the young Uchiha escape.

"Your eyes," Madara said as he looked directly at the raven teenager. "Their similar to mine. I wonder…if we're related by more than just blood."

The only reply the Ghost received was Tobirama coming in from the side and almost managing to slash his torso. Once more Madara, managed to evade the attack and he could use his shadow again. Channeling chakra to his Rinnegan, a clone of himself exited from his frame. Draped in white, the clone pushed away all his other attackers as Madara focused on Sasuke alone.

"Shame. Here I thought your eyes could see the truth," Madara said as he yanked his arm forward and pulled Sasuke closer. A Black Receiver emerged from his palm and was going straight for Sasuke's right eye, before the young Uchiha disappeared in a yellow flash and a puff of smoke.

The undead Uchiha hit nothing but air as some anger slowly built up inside him. This momentary lapse in attention didn't make him notice how four tri-pronged kunai were buried into the earth around him, albeit somewhat of a fair distance away.

" **Kekkai Shihō Fūjin (Four Corners Sealing Barrier)** " a voice said as lines of seals emerged from the kunai and went upwards. More lines emerged until a dome surrounded the area, a silver like layer of chakra coating the layer as Uzumaki Naruto appeared there. He was still going through hand seals as he threw out four scrolls at the same time. The parchments of paper were laid out as every single letter glowed with a blue light.

" **Kekkai Konran Jikūkan – Sanrenshiki (Triple Layer – Space-Time Disruption Barrier)** ," Naruto finished as three layers of blue chakra emerged inside the dome and went straight through the ground. He sighed in relief, "Phew. Well, that takes care of that."

"Uzumaki Naruto," Madara said, his voice not having the same calm tone as he did throughout the entire day. The Uchiha's frustrations were drawing to an all time high as he looked at the grinning blond.

"At your service," Naruto said with a salute. To the Jinchūriki he was a bit surprised at how…relaxed he was, considering what he was about to do. Perhaps it was the finality of it all that kept him composed. Things could only end one way now.

"You're turning out to be quite the thorn," Madara said as he walked forward, his eyes outright glaring at the blond as he noted how his allies outside were yelling at him.

Did the brat intend to face him alone?

It was almost insulting. Even Tobirama and that other blond were shouting at him, seemed that the barrier did end any and all attempts to use a teleportation jutsu. That meant, the brat wouldn't be able to go out either.

"You're actually going to face me alone," Madara said after seeing the blond nod. For a moment, he stood still before he began shaking. Then the laughter could be heard. The world saw Uchiha Madara laughing his heart out. It was purely maniacal to some, a few even feared the sight of him doing such an act.

"Are you looking down on me 'ttebayo?" Naruto asked, an annoyed expression on his face. Instead all he heard was more laughter. He rushed the Uchiha who laughed a bit more, before blocking the blond's punch and the kick aimed for his face which missed.

However, Madara's smirk faded when he felt something invisible hit his face and was driven back by the impact. His Rinnegan eyes searched for what hit him, and found nothing. He assumed it must've been something similar to his shadows, but there was nothing present.

"Not so funny now, huh?" Naruto rhetorically mocked the Uchiha. He went after Madara again and much to the blond's chagrin, the undead shinobi kept dodging all his attacks while throwing the best counters Naruto ever saw in his life. Even with the clones, which were being dispelled.

If it wasn't for Sage Mode, all those strikes would've landed due to the small time frame they acted in. He couldn't use Chakra Mode right now, if he did he could end up fainting anytime and the jutsu he was setting couldn't have him do that under any circumstance. For now taijutsu and diversion was all he could pull off, and so far it wasn't bad. Until Madara started to clinically murder all his clones with precise strikes to their vital points.

Then both of them simultaneously landed a punch on each other before backing off. Some blood drew from Naruto's lips, as he noted not to get too close to the Uchiha.

Not now at least.

However, Madara was getting frustrated. Not because of how skilled the blond was, no. The boy had some talent, but it wasn't enough to take him on. His Edo Tensei body was acting more strangely. His movements were becoming restricted and the chakra flow was more haphazard than before.

"Having trouble, are we?" Naruto said before closing the distance between them both along with more clones. Each blow canceled the other out, before Madara extended his hand. The blond and his copies were wise enough to go back up but Madara's next words rendered it useless.

" **Banshō Ten'in (Heavenly Attraction of All Creation)** ," the Uchiha said as gravity pulled the Jinchūriki and his clones towards him. He didn't care anymore, this would end. " **Enton: Honoikazuchi (Inferno Release: Fire Lightning)**."

Tendrils of black flames jutted out of the Uchiha's body as five of the Amaterasu conjured spikes impaled the blond and his clones. Each of them dispelled, except the original and Madara saw how a chakra arm formed on the blond's side as it _held_ the black flame in place.

"HAA!" Naruto yelled as his fist hammered against the shocked Uchiha, breaking his face as the Uchiha fell on his back for the first time. Naruto got down on one knee, as he deactivated the chakra arm. 'Fuck,' he thought in pain, 'I didn't expect so much backlash from just a simple usage.'

"So," Madara said as he sat back up and looked at the blond. Tissues of particles forming to complete his jawline again, "Using that form isn't helping you anymore. That just makes it easier."

"Speak for yourself," Naruto said with a small chuckle. It _hurt_ to laugh at the moment, but he needed to keep it up…just for a bit longer. "I see you're slowing down as well. You're not moving at the speed you were when you faced the Fourth Division."

Madara said nothing, but the small widening of his eyes gave Naruto the opening he needed.

"That attack was slow too. From what I saw moments ago, you were throwing around black flames like they were spare change. Hell your Susanoo was carrying flame blades before I came here," Naruto finished and laughed a bit more.

And internally groaned in pain.

"Do you want to know why?" the blond asked.

"If this is your way to stalling me while your _comrades_ ," Madara said, almost condescendingly, "come up with a plan…you're failing. I will break out of this barrier, jail those filthy beasts and kill everyone here. You, Uzumaki Naruto will die before you get to see any of that happening."

"Well, you're one-fourth right," the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi said as he stood up. The confusion on Madara's face made him almost glee, "But for humor's sake, do you want to know why you're not being able to fight like you were before?"

Silence was all he heard, and being around Sasuke long enough, Naruto knew exactly what it meant.

"Natural energy's a bitch," Naruto said, ignoring all the yells from his friends, father and everyone else in the Alliance as they started to outright attack the barrier now.

It was useless.

"What?" Madara asked, confused by the way the teen had phrased it.

"Simple, Madara-Teme," Naruto said hoping to get some reaction out of the Uchiha. He did not. Moving on, he explained, "Natural energy isn't something you can just outright absorb. There's a reason why you have to train that hard to become a damn sage in the first place. You and your knock-off Shodaime-jiji copy ripoff on your left nipple isn't going to do shit when it comes to harnessing the energy. Hell the only reason you're still walking around is probably because you have some of his cells and the fact that you're an empty husk."

"I see," Madara said as he formed a blue ribcage around him. He struggled a bit, but the first stage would be enough to do what he wanted, no he _needed_ to do. This brat, was looking down on him with that infernal grin of his. It stroke his pride and Madara, above all else, wouldn't concede defeat to anyone but Hashirama. "Then there's only thing left for me to do. Ending you, brat."

"Seriously? 'Brat'? I'm not surprised, even Sasuke has more personality than you," Naruto said before narrowly avoiding the strike of the blue skeletal hand that would've turned him into pudding. "But I am surprised you actually talked that long with me. Really, I am."

"Consider it me giving you some solace," Madara said before flesh weaved around the skeleton, his Susanoo entered the second stage. A sword formed, black flames wrapping around it as he lifted it to make a strike. He struggled a bit. If what the brat said was true, then that would explain why forming this attack - something that was second nature to him - felt this vexing. Still, the Ghost could not let the insult stride. His pride as a warrior, demanded retribution.

"Unfortunately for you, brat, that time is up," Madara finished as the sword burned furiously, bleeding dark cinders as they danced in the air. With this, he would end it.

"You're right," Naruto said as his Sage Mode faded and some tears did well up in his eyes. The young Sage's actions once more made the Uchiha halt his actions, and said, "Time's up…for both of us."

Before Madara could bring the ethereal, blackened sword down, red ripples appeared on Naruto's body. Like a stone falling a pond to cause small waves, the concentric shapes kept moving back and forth. All of them glowed like beacons, before chains started to emerge out of them. On each end were curved hooks and before the Ghost could break out of his stupor at this bizarre display, the red bladed chains shot off at a speed his Sharingan couldn't track.

A collective shatter was heard as the sharp ends of the chains _tore_ through Madara's humanoid Susanoo, and pierced the frame of Edo Tensei. They stuck inside his body and twisted to bind themselves around him, though they did not immobilize him as he yanked his arm in pain. Yes, the Uchiha _felt_ pain.

He was undead, he shouldn't be able to feel such a stigma in this state. Besides that, he had been through battles and endured strikes that shatter the very ground. Yet, these stabs felt like they were methodically poisoning him, weakening him, and this notion alone sent nerve wracking jolts throughout him.

"I didn't figure you were someone who talked that much in a fight," Naruto said as he looked up with a solemn smile. The chains that connected the two, slowly moved around like smoke. "But I guess I was lucky, you're the sort of guy who likes to feed his hubris now and then. Especially against… _brats_. And people call me an idiot. Take that, mainstream opinion."

Madara tried to yank the chains off, but to no avail as touching them made his grip falter more and the weight that was previously on him before was weighing him down further. Still, there must've been a way to break these off.

"Don't bother. It's useless," Naruto said as slowly walked forward. "You really should've paid more attention to the battle when you realized you couldn't sense me anymore."

"Excuse you and your extinct clan?" Madara asked, enraged at the blond's words.

"You didn't sense me, did you? When I swapped Sasuke's place with a clone of mine? Or when I landed from above?" Naruto asked and Madara didn't reply. "Look up, maybe you'll find it enlightening."

As the Uchiha looked up, a sense of dread invaded his mind. A single black spiral was there up at the converging center of the dome. It was growing larger every second and Madara couldn't see anything beyond. All he saw was darkness and absence.

"Do you remember the first seal I set up? The one you saw?" Naruto asked. "Yeah, I had no intention of using that. But seeing how you even broke out of that super sandy pyramid thing Shukaku and Gaara made, I decided that I'd seal you into me."

"You fool," Madara said. "You're going to seal me inside you? Do you even know what would happen?"

"Of course I do. There's a large chance I'd die, but that's not what the seal above is for," the blonde said. "Honestly speaking this seal wasn't made to use against you. The plan was to trap Tobi inside the barrier, making sure he can't use that hax jutsu of his, and then somehow beating the shit out of him or…" he paused and pointed upwards at the black emptiness. "Using a jutsu that tore a fabric in space and time to erase him from existence. That, Madara, was the _first_ seal I placed before I even landed here. The one you didn't notice."

"A suicidal technique. To go so far for a world that's already spelled its doom," Uchiha Madara said, still trying to break the chains. "I take back what I said about Hashirama; you're a bigger fool than that idiot ever was."

"Maybe but it's my decisions to make, and those chains you're trying to break - that's nothing to scoff at either 'ttebayo," Naruto said a proud smile on his face. "This is another one of my created fūinjutsu. **Unmei-Tekina Fūsa (Fate Bound Sealing Chains)**. It's not as cool as my mom's chains, but this technique has a few specific uses. These chains binds the both of us, as long as I'm alive you're not going to escape from its grasp. As long as you're an Uchiha, you're not allowed to mold chakra and neither am I."

"Then these seals are-"

"Self-sustaining and will remain that way as long as I'm on this planet," the blond said immediately and smiled widely, even at the prospect of death. "This was a one way trip I made, and if I can take you with me…I have no qualms about that."

"You," Madara rushed forward and punched the blond. "Do you even realize what you've done?"

The teen shrugged it off and landed an uppercut on the Uchiha's chin. The force behind the blow lifted the Edo Tensei before he hit the ground. Madara felt a dizzy sensation. While he would appreciate such a feeling in battle, the fact that he would be obliterated - erased from the world - did not sit well with him, and he looked at the blond who looked down at him.

Condescendingly.

"Take some dignity in defeat, would you," Naruto said and looked at the Uchiha who glared at him. "Right now, you're as useless as I am. At least go out in peace."

"Naruto!" the yell of Namikaze Minato finally reached his son as father and son looked at each other. "What have you done? Why?"

"The same reason you did it, Tou-chan," Naruto said. "To keep my precious people safe and uh, the world too."

"That's not what I wanted for you. Tomorrow's your birthday for God's sake," Minato said, tears freely falling from his face. His son was about to die. To the Fourth Hokage, there was no greater punishment than a child watching his die. "How can I face your mother after this? How do I tell her I failed my own child?"

"Just tell her I did it with a grin on my face. And I did grow a tad bit smarter, with your and everybody's help of course," Naruto said, his voice weaker from the fact that he would be dying. "Apparently, all Uzumaki are stubborn according to her."

"Naruto!" Tsunade yelled out. This time Naruto did feel a stab of guilt inside. Both of them came to cherish their times together, even though it would probably never work.

"I'm sorry," he said looking at her. "I really am…but this is something I have to do. Just like how you saved me from Pein."

"You…idiot," she said before looking away, knowing exactly how stubborn and adamant the blond could be.

"Not denying that statement," Naruto said, he kept an eye on the Uchiha was trying something and failing no doubt.

"Dobe," Sasuke said and Naruto's eyes widened a bit. "What the heck do you think you're doing? You and I are supposed to fight? What about bringing me back to village? What about your thrice-damned dream you kept on yapping about? What sort of a Hokage-in-making are you?"

"The one who finally saved his friend 'ttebayo!" Naruto said with a grin, despite the tears that fell freely. His head was starting to feel light as his feet felt wobbly. He didn't have much time, "Oi Sasuke! Do me a favor, okay?"

"Shut up," the Uchiha said and tried to hit the barrier with a conjured Susanoo arm.

"It won't work as long as I'm here," Naruto said and laughed a bit, it was ironic really. "Fūinjutsu's scary stuff. Given the right details and conditions, nothing can break it."

"You're not supposed to be this smart…you…loser," Sasuke said and looked at the blond who was laughing and crying at the same time. He saw how Naruto reached for something in his pouch, and for the first time since the massacre, the young Uchiha felt sorrow.

A sole scratched out headband rested in Naruto's headband. The blond showed it to him and spoke.

"Promise kept, teme" Naruto said, throwing the headband towards the sharp prong of the kunai. Inside the seal, winds picked up as Madara no longer fought further and stood still, accepting his fate.

"I can't even use Izanagi because of these accursed chains," Madara said as he looked up at the void which grew larger.

"Yeah, I didn't know something like that existed until I saw that creepy Danzo guy use it against Sasuke. I would've never come up with that loophole about the whole Uchiha bound thing too if it wasn't for that fight," Naruto said and the Uchiha stared at him impassively. "Funny thing, these chains won't actually work without the presence of that big hole up there. Well it's not exactly 'Ha-ha' funny, but get what I'm saying right?"

"This jutsu, what happens when you go through it? The void?" Madara asked, curiosity getting the better of him. Unique ninjutsu or fūinjutsu always interested him. If this was his last moment, may as well end it on a note better than last time when he slumped forward to death.

Even if it was conversing with a brat, who smiled far too brightly for his taste.

"I don't know," Naruto said as he felt being drawn towards the swirling aberration. "But I know this much. I can never come back here, at least in theory. This is a door to somewhere and the trip would probably kill all passengers."

"A suicidal technique through and through. But considering your stubborn drive, its useful in that sense," Madara said, his face showing no emotions. "What's the name of the jutsu?"

"Well I had to study a lot for this," Naruto said as both he and the Uchiha were drawing near the endless darkness. "So I only came up with a name that sorta seemed fitting instead of coming up with a badass title like I usually do."

"And that is?"

" **Chiheisen Shumoku (Event Horizon)** ," Naruto said as both of them were about to enter the darkness.

"That's not a bad name," Madara said before both of them became absorbed by the void.

The internal area of the barrier became pitch black for an entire minute as everyone stayed on their toes. Then the darkness lifted and the barrier shattered as everyone rushed forward. All they found were the four Hiraishin marked kunai, some blood on the ground and a scratched hitai-ate stuck to the edge of the tri-pronged blade.

October 10th, the day this shinobi world would remember as the Day of the Hero.

The day Uzumaki Naruto gave up his life to bring peace.

 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

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 **Author's Notes II:** Okay first of all, Rinnegan Madara was too strong, okay? Like broken strong and that's the reason I showed that the only way to beat him is by either outsmarting him (as the Hokage in my fight did) or beat him with technicalities because taking him head on is useless; Hashirama being the only person exempt to this. That was the reason there was no 'glorious fight' in this chapter. Simply fighting smarter and showing why Madara became physically bound to Naruto makes more sense than them going through an apparent rip in the space-time continuum. To me that's what Naruto, the manga, really was all about. Not being the strongest, but being the smartest and occasionally playing dirty while thinking out of the box – the last part is something Naruto has done more than a handful of times. Kudos to you Orange Spark.

Also, Sasuke lives! And he's good! I can see so many flames coming for that event alone, LOL. I know the chapter didn't have that much humor today, because well its sort of a farewell from Naruto to the life he knew. So I had to keep it bittersweet at most. He's the sort of guy who'd give up his life gladly for the ones he cares about, and he'd do with a smile no less. That said, review the shit out of this chapter people. Actual reviews are appreciated, constructive reviews are loved, naggy reviews are uh…something, I don't know what exactly but they are most definitely something, and spammed reviews will be outright ignored. Take care people. Goodbye!


	3. Multiverse Theory's A B

**Author's Notes I** : Yeah, really sorry for the late update guys. I wanted to continue the hype in October, but I assumed I burned out. You know how I can't write more than one good chapter in a month. Still, here's the third chapter and you might want to pay close attention. It gets a bit complicated at one point –PM me if you still have confusions afterwards. Also, if you guys noticed how some of my old stories 'disappeared', you can find them in " **Old Stories with Bad Grammar** " on my profile. Now, enjoy.

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 **I don't own Naruto or any of the franchises I borrow shit from. Had I owned Naruto, the ending would've been better with an additional 15-20 chapters**

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 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

Darkness was all he could see. Silence was all he heard. Absence was all he could feel.

And then, small tracks of light could be seen. Grim as the color of his blood, the crimson chains glowed and reminded him how he, willingly, stepped into this abyss. Brighter and brighter it shone, illuminating this endless, boundless, horrific place. The dark deco of the red metal only served to make this…hell look worse. He couldn't find a single speck of solace here.

An eternal void of nothingness. There was just absence –cold and dark and lonely. It was both everywhere and nowhere. A true purgatory if there ever was one and Uzumaki Naruto's mind would've broken had it not been for the fox's words. The beast's curses, shouts and growls kept him from losing it.

He never wanted to be alone and yet five minutes after arriving the void was eating away at him.

 _'Kurama,'_ the Jinchūriki mentally spoke, _'I want to get out of here. What the fuck do I do?'_

 _" **That's not going to be easy,** "_ the Kyūbi replied. There was a sense of dread in the fox's voice, Naruto could feel it clearly. **_"You said it yourself; this was a one-way trip._** "

His hopeless blue eyes followed the length of the chains, his vision transfixed on the man on the other end.

Madara looked worse than him. Violently shaking, he noted how the Ghost kept clutching his heart. As if it was trying to burst out. A foolish endeavor. Madara was an undead man; he couldn't _feel_ what Naruto was experiencing right now. He should've stayed dead. And then Naruto's mind began to feel warped and overwhelmed.

He was starting to reminisce his glory days, knowing that the end was near. He remembered those moments where his life had truly taken more steps towards who he was today followed by his worst. Soon, a new lashing pain emerged in his body and he screamed.

" ** _Naruto! Hang on!"_**

Images, words, memories.

They battered Naruto's mind as he fell further into the darkness of the abyss. The pain refused to leave his side. It was a cruel companion, promising to be with him until the Shinigami came to reap his soul.

It lashed at him from every corner. Invisible forces doing their best to make every single moment an agonizing one. Naruto truly believed this was hell. Breaking the laws of man and nature had a cost —a great price as it dawned on Naruto. In his mind, this was karma. Fair and just and brutal for the aberration he had caused. A small part of him even found it cathartic.

At least Kurama was still here with him, but judging by the groans that the Kitsune was making, Naruto felt his partner in crime was suffering as much him —maybe more than Naruto himself. However, the immortal fox was still doing its best to help his jailer.

The blond would've grinned in joy if he wasn't in pain. However, reality was sinking it's claws into his flesh. He knew what needed to be done. It was inevitable.

 _'Kurama,'_ Naruto said, a taxing effort at the moment.

Without warning the images increased, as he remembered burying Haku and Zabuza. The Chūnin Exams. Orochimaru. His Jiji's death. Meeting Tsunade and Shizune. Sasuke's defection.

However, he also started to remember when his younger brother was born. When he lost his older brother to the flames of war. When his eyes truly opened and saw the world for the dark, dirty mistress it was.

Gasping, the blond tried to move his mind away from the disturbing showcase of bizarre and unknown memories. He needed to get that out of his head. Those feelings, the dread, the hate. He wanted it to end. Naruto wanted it all to end. To just get it over with. Focusing on his tenant, Naruto spoke again, ' _Stop pumping chakra to shield me. We both know how this will end. The sooner…the better.'_

 ** _"Shut up and let me do my work, human,"_** he heard the Nine Tailed Beast growl at him. Naruto couldn't stop himself from chuckling. Even in a gap where rules of nature were volatile, to say the least, his tenant was snarky as ever. Stupid Kurama and his tsunami causing temper tantrums. **_"I'll cause a tsunami upside your ass if you don't let me focus!"_** the beast threatened.

Again, the blond found it funny. The pain, developing a sense of humor of its own, decided to remind him of the physical horror he was suffering. _'You might not get that chance, buddy,'_ Naruto thought. He could feel his heartbeat slowing down, the warmth of his body decreasing, the fatigue from fighting now all but gone.

In its place, a cold numbness began to settle inside. Dread ran, skipped, and hopped through his veins. A sense of mortality tugged at his heart. Naruto's face itched, an annoying sensation unneeded in such a crucial time. Ignoring the irritation, his mind focused on the images and the overbearing emotions that came with it.

His trip with Jiraiya, where the man became something akin to a father for him. The eventual return to Konoha, followed immediately by chasing the Akatsuki to save Gaara. Meeting with Sasuke after nearly three years, the training to complete the Rasengan, killing Kakuzu. Itachi's death, followed shortly by his godfather leaving this world for the next. Nagato and his eventual subversion. The times with Tsunade, and the final decision he made to end 'Madara'.

His life in the clan. He remembered when his father would sternly stare at him, reminded him why they stuck together and hated those who resided in the forests. How much they had taken from him. The wars, the never ending wars taking away lives left and right every single day. He remembered the promise he kept to his mother on her dying bed, to keep his youngest brother safe –his greatest failure.

How could he ever forget? The love of his comrades, the fierce protectiveness to shield them, the fear of losing them. They were more important to him than he could ever assume.

Naruto remembered those moments.

The joy he felt when his father and brothers would proudly smile at him. When enemies on the battlefield would fall, those who dared to harm his kin didn't live long. Then, the pain that came when he failed to save them.

Losing loved ones, laying them to rest with your own hands, the realization of how he wouldn't get to see them again came. And with them, his joy was gone. Each loss brought more pain, more suffering, more emptiness.

With each body he buried, he lost a part of himself. Seeds of hatred took their place when he felt this horror, his mind became a fertile ground for cultivating revenge. He would rub his nose in the dirty battlefields, let his contempt grow, fuel him with fury so he could take vengeance.

 ** _"Damn it, Naruto! FOCUS!"_** he heard, the words wrung him from the rage he felt. The Jinchūriki was astounded at the emotions he experienced. They were his emotions. **_"Those aren't your emotions, Naruto. They never were."_**

Kurama's revelation made the blond widen his eyes in realization. It was true. They weren't his emotions, nor his memories. Even his own dream was a far cry from what little he experienced. Yet, Naruto couldn't shake off the feeling. As if it was how a part of himself felt.

The irritation on his face's skin began to annoy him further. With great effort he raised his hand to scratch his cheek. It felt…different. His skin felt like it wasn't his own. Looking up at his hand, Naruto noticed how his tanned hand, looked paler.

A paper like substance then flew near his finger before attaching onto it, creating that same paler shade. Only, it looked more alive.

 _'Kurama!'_ Naruto yelled in his mind, fear quickly took him over. _'What the fuck is going on?'_

 ** _"I don't know, just hang in there, Nar-"_** the blond heard the Kyūbi's voice cut off.

 _'Kurama!'_ he yelled. _'Kurama, answer damn it!'_

It was no use.

The strongest Tailed Beast didn't reply and as an infinite number of paper shreds continued to assault him. Each of those thin, small strands hit his body with a ridiculous speed. Naruto focused where they came from. His eyes widened in shock.

The great Uchiha Madara was fading, crumbling, disintegrating. His entire body was being erased as the Ghost looked at his body in shock. The ancient Uchiha looked at him, Naruto could see the fear on his face. The hopelessness of no escape, the morbid sense of finality seeping into the undead warrior. The Edo Tensei began choking, gagging, and retching before he began to vomit something out.

Silvery liquid escaped from the man's mouth and Madara grew whiter by the second. His hand reached out towards Naruto, begging for help. The blond could feel his plea, but he was too shocked by the fact how someone like Madara – someone he considered nigh indestructible – could be so desperate. Instead the man began to collapse, breaking down into particles like dust in the wind.

They rushed at him, like locusts on crops they fed on him. They settled on his body and the small silvery, glowing…thing danced in mid-air. Slowly, Naruto's eyes saw something else.

Light. He saw light.

Had his prayers been answered? Was this death? The light that so many people talked about before they passed?

Slowly it grew, larger and larger until he was sure that it made the Jūbi seem like a drop of water compared to it. He felt himself being pulled towards it. It was stronger than Pain's magnetic pull. There was no escape and Naruto simply closed his eyes, accepting his fate. The paper particles started to gather more on his body, he didn't mind. It was of no consequence.

 _'I guess I'll be seeing them sooner than I thought,'_ Naruto thought, chuckling.

His anguish finally ended as the growing sphere finally absorbed him and then everything…exploded.

 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

 _Two boys sat on a mountain, overlooking the entire area. Smiles etched on their faces, the black haired boy spoke first, "Maybe our dream will come true."_

 _A few days later, his father and brother arrived to kill his friend. The other side had the same idea, thankfully the duo were able to avoid such a predicament. "I won't let you harm my brother." It was a promise, one he vowed to uphold. The boy felt terrible that his dream would remain just that, a dream. But if it meant protecting his family, he would gladly give it up._

 _Years passed, he was a boy no longer. A legend on the battlefield, his name was known by all and feared by all. Despite his power, he failed. His brother dead, and his accursed eyes were useless._

 _"Take my eyes, brother," his younger brother wheezed out. Even on his deathbed, young Izuna never looked weak. "It's…all I can do now."_

 _He fulfilled his brother's dying wish, the Uchiha obtained the eternal light and fought his former friend. He lost, not just in battle but in his mind as well. The Senju was stronger than him. He had truly lost and the red eyed man gave their dream a chance_.

 _It was all he could dream of at first, but the light cast a shadow on him. It grew and grew until he could no longer bear it. His clan refused his call, exiling him. He was alone._

 _Yet, he didn't give in. With his eyes, he tamed the most foul beast. Brought it to battle his former friend, the greatest fight he ever fought. Even then he lost, yet he would never give in._

 _With the flesh he stole and the splices he made, he waited. Waited for a successor to surpass him. Obito, he was just another pawn like everyone else. He remembered dying and waking up._

 _The Fourth Great Ninja War, they called it. They were all children compared to him. His third attempt would surely bring him the fruit he so desired._

 _To finally end this conflict, this cycle which ate lives and shat war._

 _He had no desire to fail, and yet a brat got in his way._

 _Blond hair, blue eyes, a stupid grin reminding him of Hashirama._

 _It was…him._

 _He was the brat._

 _He was the man who lost everything._

 _He was the one who fought to end the war._

 _He was the one who fought to bring peace._

 _To cast the perfect genjutsu was his dream…or was it to make people truly understand each other?_

 _He was Uzumaki Naruto…he was Uchiha Madara…he was….he was…_

 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

Blue eyes snapped open and he shot up from his bed.

A cold sweat covered his frame, as he gripped his head. Adrenaline rushed in his veins, he felt as if he was going to die. He fell from the bed and fell face first into the ground. His yell got muffled as he tasted the dirt. It was bitter and unwanted.

Groggily getting up, his body shook. Slowly the rush decreased, rationality sunk in as he realized could _feel_ everything around him. Dead men don't feel anything. He was dead. He _should_ be dead. As he sat on the bed, he quickly realized the door was opened. It creaked, complaining of its old age. He heard the clanking of metal, footfalls followed, and a person entered.

He was…white. White skin, it seemed as if the person had been bleached by it. Green spiky hair on his head, the man didn't wear a shirt but much to his inner joy he was wearing pants. That put possible rapist out of the question. The person also had a shit-eating grin on his face, as if he were without a care in the world.

"NARUTO-SAMA!" was all he heard before the white…living thing hugged him, very tightly.

It hurt more than being crushed by boulders. Plus, getting hugged by a shirtless man was not something he wanted. Ever. Period.

"L-Let go!" he choked out and the white being did just that. However, his anguish increased when he fell onto the floor.

Getting up by himself, while refusing the overzealous man's help, he sat and noticed another person entering the room.

This second person was old, ancient even. Hair withered white with age, skin wrinkled with time and one cold, red eye staring at him with some coldness. Madara never looked so… The feeling of danger crept in and he jumped back. He was ready to fight, regardless of the fatigue he felt.

"Eh, Naruto-sama…what are you doing?"

 _'White Zetsu,_ ' he concluded.

He should've noticed the being's features better, yet this one seemed different. More lively, less menacing and, dare he say it, almost innocent. Even its eye color was different; orange eyes stared back at his blue ones. Still, the Ghost was still there, and he couldn't let his guard down.

"Madara," he said, clenching his fist. "How did you escape?"

The old Uchiha said nothing and slowly walked forward, his cane was a kama. Madara's own personal weapon, forged all those years ago and yet the metallic sickle was sharp to this day.

 _'How do I know that?'_ Madara headed towards a seat and took his place there. For a moment, the Uchiha said nothing and kept his eyes closed.

"I didn't escape," Madara looked at him, a blank expression adorning his face. "I remembered my body was…breaking down and then I woke up from a sleep. Here. In this state."

What?

"Stop lying," he said, anger slowly building up. "What the fuck are you talking about? How did you escape!"

"Eh," the Zetsu clone spoke up. "Naruto-sama, what are you on about? Even Madara-sama was acting weird when he woke up." His head snapped towards the semi-organic being. The face held no malice or deception. Hell, it looked like the Zetsu was a stupid five year old, with a fully grown body.

"It seems," the Ghost said. "We didn't die after all, Uzumaki Naruto. Or do I call you something else?"

"Stop speaking in circles. You're pissing me off," he glared at Madara and saw his deteriorating chakra… _'What the heck?'_

Panic began to form in his mind, as his eyes carefully noticed everything around him. The world seemed clearer, sharper, better. He never had seen so clearly with his eyes before. Yet, it seemed familiar. Almost instinctual, as if he had done this a million times before. It felt natural…it felt right.

"Naruto-sama," the Zetsu clone whined. "You and Madara-sama have been acting weird. Ever since you woke up after implanting your grandfather's eyes."

 _'No.'_ This…this wasn't possible. This was a dream, a bad dream. No, it was a nightmare. Or a genjutsu, yet he couldn't feel the feel the presence of another chakra seeping into his own; this was real, not a false illusion conjured up by some trickster.

"What have you done?" he said. The Ghost didn't reply. With inhumane speed, he appeared near the elderly Uchiha and yanked him by his collar. "What have you done?! Answer me!"

Madara's face didn't even flinch before his eyes. The Uchiha was calm, collected, and utterly bored at his threat. The old goat didn't even give a fuck about the killing intent he was letting out. It simply wasn't worth the Ghost's time, and he, Naruto, knew it. He too would've felt the same way.

"The question isn't what I have done," the Uchiha finally said. "It's what you have done, Uzumaki Naruto."

He let go of the Uchiha, letting the old man sit comfortably sit on the chair as he gathered his wits.

 _'Kurama,'_ he called out. ' _Kurama, are you there? You better not be fucking pranking me. Kurama. Kurama!'_ He couldn't sense Kurama's presence inside him. Hell, when did he become a sensor? And since when he was he so good at it?

"Speaking to the filthy Fox are you," Madara's words enraged him. "He's not with you, I would've sensed him. It's chakra has this chaotic pulse whenever I'm near."

Naruto's red eyes threatened to burst him into flames, but the Uzumaki stopped himself. He needed answers, Madara was the only person who could provide them at the moment. Besides, the Zetsu clone of course.

"Where the heck are we? How are you still alive? How am _I_ still alive?"

"I don't know," the man replied. "I was sure we would be dead. At least the knowledge of your memories told me the jutsu truly had one inevitable result." This was a problem. Madara _saw_ his memories, and by extension knew everything he did. The crafty old son of a bitch would surely try something.

"I'm assuming you saw mine as well," it wasn't a question. Madara continued, "Tell me do you still hate me? After seeing everything I've been through. Surely you understand how horrid the world is."

"I'm not having same old conversation again for the hundred and twenty-second time," Naruto growled. He was pissed right now, almost as pissed when he saw Orochimaru after three years.

"Too bad," the Ghost leaned back. "Because I have something to say to you, _grandson_."

Naruto's glare softened out of confusion. _'Has he lost it? Maybe this is a dream.'_

"No I haven't lost it," Madara said, as if reading his mind. It was freaky. "I just know you very well."

"You don't know me," Naruto countered. "Hell, you've barely known me for less than a day. Don't go around spouting bullshit out of that mouth of yours."

"Uzumaki Naruto," Madara began. "Born on October 10th; loathed and feared by all. Parents killed on the day of your birth, the Kyūbi's claw made sure of that. Lived by yourself since the age of five, you hate the three minutes you have to wait for cup ramen to cook. Secretly resented the villagers to the point where you hid it all, choosing to grin and bear it instead of taking leaving the village. Your chakra control was horrid, you failed the graduation exam three times, you were a genin on Team Seven and apprenticed by Jiraiya the Toad Sage. Or should I call him, 'Ero-sennin'? Do I need to go on?"

Madara knew everything about him.

"You're right," Naruto said after deactivating his Sharingan, Madara did it at the same time. However, the door opened both ways in this case. "But don't think you're the only one in that same boat."

"Uchiha Madara," the . . . former Jinchūriki said. "Born on December 24th, second born son of Tajima and Rinko. Had five brothers, one older and four younger; Izuna was your favorite sibling. Your father died when you were sixteen and your mother passed away when Izuna was born. You awakened your Sharingan shortly before your rift with your best friend, the Shodaime Hokage. Your Mangekyō Sharingan awakened after you killed Miya, a close friend who became obsessed with Izanagi. Hobbies include increasing your fire affinity, falconry and taking over the world. Inarizushi is your favorite food, while you labeled roe as 'trash'. Oh…and you also couldn't pee for three days when you saw Hashirama's face growing on your left nipple."

"Um," the White Zetsu said. "What's going on? Why are you two acting this way?"

"Zetsu,-" Madara was cut off when the white plant-like being shouted.

"My name is Shirou, not Zetsu!" it said. "Naruto-sama himself gave me that name."

Naruto scratched his head in frustration from all the tension in his body. This situation was so fucked up he couldn't make heads or tails of it. If Kurama was here, he would've had some solid advice. At that moment he realized something. His hair had grown much larger than it was before he activated his suicidal jutsu. It came all the way down to his waist. It was spiky with the right amount of smoothness, jet black as the void itself.

Naruto took a fistful of his own hair and stared at it. ' _My sweet, sexy blond hair is gone. Why?!'_ Shrugging that painful loss aside, he looked at the Zetsu. He seemed stupid and loud and bold. He was a completely trustworthy person, if not well, Naruto knew how to use a kunai.

"Shirou," Naruto said, the Zetsu beamed at him. "Look, this may sound strange but my memory's acting a bit hazy. Ever since the implant my chakra's been affecting my brain. So, could you tell me where this place is?"

"Of course, Naruto-sama. I am your bestest, most trustworthy spy after all," Naruto concluded Shirou was the worst spy of all time. The Zetsu clone coughed into his hand. "We are at Mountain's Graveyard, north to the Land of Rice and Waterfalls. You like to call it the Secret Place, Naruto-sama."

"Okay." The former blond nodded to his words, one eye focused on Madara. "Now, Shirou. You said something about us acting strange since we woke up, right?"

"Yup. Totally, you're acting like complete weirdos."

Ignoring the stride, Naruto continued. "When did _he_ ," pointing at Madara, "wake up?"

"Oh. Let's see…about an hour before you."

"I see and did he come to visit me?"

"Nope. Madara-sama and I were playing twenty questions."

"…I simply asked you questions," Madara cut in. "And told you to answer me truthfully."

"And you asked twenty of them. Hence, twenty questions~"

Naruto could _feel_ the headache increasing and that one word Madara had called him was getting to him. As…surreal as this situation was, he did have one theory in mind. It was and advanced space-time physics theory that seemed more like borderline cheesy science fiction, but he needed to confirm it. He needed to hear those words.

"Shirou."

"Hai, Naruto-sama?"

"Uchiha Madara," the younger of the two men in the room said, "is my grandfather isn't he?"

"Yup."

The sheer amount of honesty in his reply almost made Naruto puke.

"Could you leave us for a moment, Shirou?" Naruto asked, barely keeping his self-loathing in control.

"Are you sure, Naruto-sama? You just woke up. Do you want to drink something?"

"No, thank you," he said. "Just give me a few moments with… _grandfather_."

The White Zetsu nodded and left the room, closing the creaking door very slowly. It was painful to his ears. Once he was sure the humanoid went away, Naruto looked at the elder Uchiha who had closed his eyes. They didn't say anything to each other. Naruto had a faint idea of what Madara was thinking, it felt strange to even know such a thing.

 _'The Edo Tensei fragments,_ ' the blond-err, black haired teen remembered. His current body seemed as if he was fifteen or sixteen. _'They latched on to me. All of those particles were looking for a host, was it due to the nature of the void? Did I fuse with him? Maybe I was then looking for genetic compatibility later? General rules of reality and physics don't apply there. Maybe. This is frustrating.'_

"Uchiha Naruto." The two words stung the very core of his being. Naruto stared at the former undead. "Has a strange ring to it doesn't it?"

"You seem to be awfully calm about this whole thing," Naruto gritted out. Even though he knew _everything_ about Madara, to the point where he could be his double, a part of him resented him.

"I'm calm because there's nothing I can do about it," Madara coolly stated, bringing up a hand to remove his bangs. His right eye was empty, the Uchiha closed it. "According to Zetsu-"

"Shirou." Madara stared at him and Naruto didn't look away. He saw the old man sigh, he probably knew how stubborn Naruto was.

"According to Shirou, it's been nearly a fifty years since I fought with Hashirama," Naruto listened to each of his words, looking for deceit and lies. "I didn't die, and I left Hi no Kuni, haven't been there back since. Apparently, I settled down in the Land of Whirpools and moved here after the Second War."

' _Oh no, please God no,'_ Naruto thought with a scowl. His ridiculous theory was making more sense, he didn't like it. No, he was fucking hate it.

"I married an Uzumaki woman by the name of Haruhi. Even had two children with her, Izuna and Indra," the former Jinchūriki saw the flash of pain in Madara's eyes at the mention of that name. Nobody else would've noticed it, mainly because Naruto knew _exactly_ how the Ghost felt. "Izuna…died in battle, and that affected Indra to the point where he refused to become a shinobi. He settled down with a woman called Narukami Tsukihime."

"And you learned all this from Shirou?" Madara, ever so slightly, nodded.

For Naruto this was strange. He had parents. Different parents, but he had them. He had grandparents for fuck's sake! It was bittersweet.

"You were their son," Madara's words wrung from his musings. 'Were' was what he heard. They were dead. "Your _parents_ were killed seven years ago, Iwa shinobi raiding party. Apparently you avenged them."

Those words didn't help. It just angered him more. All his effort in the Fourth war, completely undone and he was now in an era where bloodshed was the norm.

"Now, then," Madara started after taking a long pause. "What are you going to do? Choke me? Slash my throat? Burn my body? Shirou tells me you awakened the Mangekyō at a young age."

As if to confirm it, Naruto channeled chakra to his eyes. The red iris and black pupil appeared, three tomoe encircling it like wolves. They spun faster, until it three chok tomoe surrounded a three bladed pinwheel.

His Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan gleamed in all its glory. Naruto's chakra flared, cracking the ground on he stood and winds picked up around him. They screeched in horror, begging him to stop this display of disturbing power. A cold, unsettling chill began to set in as a light blue miasma covered his body. Brighter and brighter it grew.

"That's my chakra alright," the Ghost said, Naruto started to walk towards him. "Well then, do it. End it. We both know that's what you want. That was your plan when you used that jutsu."

Again, Madara was right. Naruto cocked back his fist and rushed it forward. A sickening crack was heard as the backrest of the wooden chair turned into broken splinters, along with a hole in the wall. A very large hole. He glared into Madara's eyes with defiance and fury.

"You're right," Naruto said. "I did want to end you, that's what the jutsu was for. But if I did that now, after everything I did…I'd be spitting on who I am."

He walked away.

"Don't be a fool, boy," Madara chided. "Don't let that sentimental side you call 'morality' get the better of you."

"I'll do what I want," Naruto replied, sitting on the bed. He sighed. "Besides, I already tried to kill you before. Doing it to you in this state, it would be a cheapshot."

"You honestly call yourself a shinobi?" the Ghost stared at him, incredulously. "I've seen your memories, I've seen what you done. Always letting emotions get the better of you. Thinking what's best for others instead of yourself just so everyone accepts you for who you are. You're a fool, Uzumaki and you're making a mistake right now."

"Maybe," the former Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi said. "But I'll stand by what I decide. My emotions made me who I am. And yeah, I'm a shinobi alright. I follow my own nindo, and I sure as heck am not going to listen to a hypocrite."

"Watch your tongue, boy."

"Izuna," Naruto said, ignoring the glare he received. It was unsettling really. He was sure that Madara would've lunged at him, had it not been for his old age.

"Don't you dare speak his name."

"I will," he replied. "I've seen what you've been through, just like I'm sure you've seen what my life was like. It was much nicer than yours, but it didn't make it better. I've felt and lived through every moment you had, so believe me I know your pain. I know your suffering, but you acted on your emotions as well. If Izuna never died, you wouldn't have gone down that path."

"It was inevitable," Madara argued. The stubborn old man. "Hashirama and I, we would've never gotten along. It was only a matter of time before we went our ways."

"I don't think so," the young…Uchiha said. "Sasuke was a lot like you. His brother died too, after their fight. His entire life goal had been built on a lie and Itachi wanted him to walk a path that didn't lead him stray, that didn't make him a hollow shell that only looked for vengeance."

Naruto took in a deep breathe.

"He would've become just like you," Naruto's eyes grew brighter, as he lightly smiled. "But he didn't. Even though that Shisui guy's eye helped, I know that deep down…Sasuke would've changed. He was, no is my friend. I trust him that much. And for some reason…I feel like you can change too. It's never too late."

"Your optimism is sickening." Madara spat. He was glaring at Naruto, and the latter didn't care. "You did the same with Pain, with Obito, with Sasuke. What makes you think your way will work? Eventually, hatred will take over. In a world filled with winners—"

"There'll be losers, I know," Naruto cut in, a bit annoyed. "Listen to me, this could be your only chance. If I'm right about this place, then maybe you should just…rethink your position."

"Speak clearly, even though I received your memories I didn't receive all your knowledge. That includes your jutsu as well."

 _'No way. He's gotta be kidding, unless…'_ Naruto hid the grin on his face. _'Oh man, I gotta buy something for Ino-chan. She wasn't kidding when she said my mind was developing natural barriers with her help and…oh right. Fuck.'_

How many years 'till she would be born again?

"Well, I'm glad," Naruto didn't bother to lie. "But if I'm right, and this is a wild guess, we're going by multiverse theory."

"A different world?" Madara asked.

"You know what I'm talking about?"

"I know how Jikūkan works. An alternate dimension doesn't seem far off considering how the Infinite Tsukuyomi works, but you already know that."

Naruto didn't hide his grin this time, even though a part of him was…torn to be honest. He had prepared and used the jutsu, ready to die. For his precious ones, for his ideals, for peace. To him, it seemed like cheating death.

"Yeah, but it seems I suffered from some losses along the way," Naruto said looking at his hands. He heard the Uchiha scoff, the old goat was smirking too.

"You have my chakra," Madara declared, almost proudly. "You have my memories, all of them. I saw you activate the Mangekyō so you must also know all my techniques. The sheer size of your chakra capacity is so large, it's ridiculous. And you claim that you suffered from losses?"

"Trust me," Naruto shook his head. "I did lose things. I lost my friends, I lost my life, I lost Kurama. Hell, I'm not even myself in this stupid world whereas you're still your broody, grumpy self. I'm just this person who's your genetic grandson and I can't even remember a single memory this guy has."

It was unfair. Madara got off easy compared to him. Naruto couldn't even remember what life this guy had, he just had to be wearing the skin of someone who was named Naruto and was an Uchiha. Sasuke would be laughing at him right now.

Multiverse theory was a bitch.

"So, what will you do now?" What would he do now indeed? He didn't have a purpose anymore.

"I don't know," he replied.

"You could've lied."

"There's no point in lying. The world would be a better place if people didn't lie so much to each other."

"An ideal world, one that'll never be real."

"Would you shut your trap for one second, you geezer?" Naruto rubbed his forehead. What the fuck was he supposed to do?

"Can't you just do the jutsu again?"

"Oh, wow. Why didn't I think of that?" Naruto asked, with mock joy. "I mean it's not like I know what'll happen the next time I pull it off. Maybe I'll even end up back at home, or another different, fucking universe! I mean why not?! Hell why not just kill myself!"

Madara sighed at his loud voice. Somehow he saw that coming, and he didn't need a Sharingan for that. "You're serious about not killing me?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied tiredly. "Besides, as much as I hate to accept it…this is reality now. My reality, as much as I want to deny it. We're related by blood, deal with it."

Madara didn't reply, opting to stay silent. "I'm wondering what I did wrong to deserve this. To have a clown like you for a grandson, even if it is in a different dimension. It's sickening."

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at his words. Madara did have a sense of humor. "Don't think I'll forgive you for what you did to Tsunade. You're lucky she's alive, otherwise you'd be shitting yourself right now."

"Your woman?" he asked. Okay, he didn't expect to hear that.

"Well yeah. I mean, kinda. I don't know." Naruto sighed and lied down. Not even caring about Madara's presence. There was nothing the Ghost could do. He heard the sound of the make-shift cane hitting the ground again. "Where do you think you're going?"

"My room," came the reply. Madara stopped. "Without purpose boy, your life has no meaning."

"I could say the same for yours," Naruto said. "You saw my memories right?"

"Yes."

"Then you also saw the last conversation I had with _your_ will, Black Zetsu." Madara didn't answer and Naruto knew what his silence meant. He got up again, "Look, I'm not going to spit on you for what you did. You lost your brother, you lost your way. I understand that, but knowing that ultimately you were a pawn yourself…are you still going to pursue your dream? The Infinite Tsukuyomi?"

Madara began to walk away and Naruto threw his hands in the air. He kept infusing chakra to know where he was moving about. Nothing wrong with keeping an eye on him.

Naruto sighed again, he didn't know what to do. Closing the door, Naruto made a few hand seals and mentally thanked the Yamanaka heiress for helping him set up the barriers in his mind. He slammed his hands into the ground as seals emerged. They spread around the room before disappearing.

 _'What do I do now?'_

 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

Why was he alive? What purpose did he have? Was he a savior or a pawn?

Nothing made sense. He was right when he saw enemies in every dancing shadow. This world was a cruel place, one that made him who he was. There were moments he had doubts, but his will never wavered. Madara was set to achieve his goals, to bring two opposing forces to create the ideal world.

 _'Black Zetsu,'_ the Uchiha thought with venom. He was never his will. The black creature was Kaguya's all along.

The entire tablet must've been a sham. All he did in life, was on the strings of another making him dance. The Uchiha had never doubted himself this much. Though that was mostly due to the memories. Uzumaki Naruto was an idiot. He was treated like every other Jinchūriki was, like a piece of shit. Yet that boy craved for acknowledgement, not through power but respect. His birth itself was a tragedy in the making, something due to Madara's machinations.

When Madara woke up, he had expected to be in Hell. Waking up in a comfy chair where a White Zetsu was eagerly looking at him like a child was not the picture he had in mind. Of course, now he was having a harder time.

The memories they returned. Not just Naruto's, but of himself. Of this world. The one who took his loss to Hashirama in a cathartic way. This version of himself didn't even awaken the Rinnegan, despite stealing Hashirama's cells. Madara, his other self, his current self, settled down. Had a wife, children a family. It _scared_ him. The notion of having a family, and the loss he suffered upon waking up. The fear of losing it again . . .

Years of training and coping with grief kept his emotions in check. It was never easy, dealing with the loss of a loved one. And this Madara, this stupid, peaceful Madara loved his family.

The Ghost of the Uchiha slept quickly, he ignored the pangs he felt in his heart. It was too late for him.

 _"I've seen what you've been through, just like I'm sure you've seen what my life was like. It was much nicer than yours, but it didn't make it better. I've felt and lived through every moment you had, so believe me I know your pain. I know your suffering, but you acted on your emotions as well. If Izuna never died, you wouldn't have gone down that path."_

No. It was fake. Those were Naruto's ideals, not his. He wasn't this world's Madara.

 _"And for some reason…I feel like you can change too. It's never too late."_

"You're wrong," Madara said. Trying to remove that cheerful phantom of hope from his mind.

He didn't like to lose, now he learned he was set to fail since he read the Tablet. His entire existence and goal was a lie. Who was he joking? Black Zetsu played him, on Kaguya's orders.

 _"Listen to me, this could be your only chance. If I'm right about this place, then maybe you should just…rethink your position."_

For the first time in what he felt was a century, Madara let out a tear. One single tear forcefully made it out of his eyes. It was too much for him. The content life this Madara had. The amount of damning hope Naruto had to redeem him. He could only take so much in his old age.

 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

"So, Shirou?"

"Hai, Naruto-sama."

"How old are you again?"

"Let's see," the White Zetsu counted on his fingers. "I'm six years old."

"I see. Okay, did you ever remember seeing a large freaky statue here before?"

"How freaky? 'Cause I remember this weird thing your parents owned, of course I never saw them in person."

"Uh, what was it?"

"Let's see. Right, it looked like a leather blindfold. It was black and there was a red ball in front." Naruto groaned.

Uchiha Naruto's parents were people with strange sexual preferences. He didn't judge, but BDSM was where he drew the line. It was why he refused Anko's advances. That woman had a rocking body, but a sick mind.

"No, that's not what I was talking about. And never mention that again," he saw Shirou nodding. "So you're sure you didn't see anything like a large statue? Closed ten eyes? Big hands with chains?"

"Nope," it said. "But there was this one time you made me go look for something."

"Oh, what was it?" Naruto asked, curious about what his…other self was looking for. Uh, even his genes were messed up. At least he had his own chakra and Madara's . . . and this Naruto's. It was unfair, even to himself.

"Some scrolls from the Whirlpool place."

"Where are they right now?"

"In your room, though I can't seem to enter."

"Sorry about that, I was," Naruto decided to be honest. "Checking to see if there was a human face on my chest."

"Oh you mean that Hashi guy."

"Yeah, him." Despite the severe situation, Naruto let curiosity get the better of him. "Can I ask you something else, Shirou?"

"Of course, Naruto-sama! I was made to serve you."

That sounded wrong, something Naruto would fix later. "Were me and Madara…close?"

"You and Madara-sama are pretty close, especially since your parents died." Shirou excitedly said. "In fact, when I was born Madara-sama was always busy training you. Saying that you needed it to survive. He's proud of you." It was strange to hear those words.

To have a blood relative with someone who was basically responsible for nearly all the terrible things that happened to the Leaf. But it wasn't his world's Madara, but now it was. ' _I need a drink for this._ '

"Was I really?" Naruto knew Madara had entered the main room before. The old goat was pretty silent despite that large kama he carried with him. "Shirou, leave us."

Without a single word, the White Zetsu dissolved into the ground. Naruto didn't say anything only letting the silence stay up.

"Without purpose, your life has no meaning," Madara said, walking forwards. "My father told me that a long time ago."

"I know."

"Without power, nothing can be gained. Nothing can be protected, and everything can be taken from you. I had it," Madara said waking further away from him. "Power, unimaginable power. Something you couldn't even comprehend. Yet, I lost to a brat with a few fancy seals." Naruto was a bit offended at that comment. His seals were anything but _fancy_. The former blond had half a mind to chuck a kunai at him.

"Time and again I kept losing. To Hashirama, to Black Zetsu, to you. In the end, I was the loser."

"You're not just a loser," Naruto said getting up from the couch. He went forward to stand beside the Ghost. "You were being a whiny bitch about it."

"That's the only time I'll let this slide."

 _'What?'_

"I lost. You and Hashirama win."

"What fucking drugs are you on?" Madara chuckled. Naruto was officially terrified now.

"I admit my defeat. My way didn't work." Madara's face looked bittersweet, as if he tasted a lemon. "And…I'm dying. Apparently, I never awakened the Rinnegan here. It's useless. I have no purpose."

Naruto didn't know what to say, since he was suffering from the same dilemma.

"But," Madara said. "I'll see if another way works."

"What?"

"I'm saying, my way didn't work." Madara explained further. "I've already used Izanagi to stay alive in this world. For far too long."

"Hey, listen you old coot. What are you on about?"

"I'm saying that I'll help you. I suspect I won't live for too long," the Uchiha looked at his hand. "And I want to leave behind a legacy. One that might reach a different outcome from mine."

"You're serious?" Naruto couldn't believe what the Uchiha was saying. Madara was just as stubborn as him.

"Believe it."

"Okay, that one hurt."

"Your training starts from tomorrow," Madara said before walking away. "Don't disappoint me."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because," Madara paused. "I feel like taking a leap of faith in my old age."

He couldn't say a word after that.

Did he trust Madara? He didn't know.

Had the Ghost truly given up? He wasn't sure.

Madara…believed in him? Naruto was confused, unsure how to reply.

But there was one thing he could say.

"So…you finally saw the flaws in your way?"

Madara kept walking away.

"Well?"

He was still walking.

"Well at least you weren't a virgin in this world."

Naruto was honestly getting tired of getting zero fucks.

"So were you and Hashirama gay?"

"Your first kiss was with a boy when you were twelve."

"FUCK YOU!"

 **xXxXx-HNSWH-xXxXx**

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 **Author's Notes II** : Yeah, I know. Almost a bit serious, but this is what happened. Essentially what happened was, in this new universe the souls of Madara and Naruto settled into compatible hosts. The big light they saw? Yeah, that was the moment a Big Bang took place in a different universe. The jutsu that Naruto had setup before would take them somewhere, however the destination was somewhere even Naruto didn't know. Also, both of them are having identity crisis on a more fucked up scale. If there are grammatical errors, please point them out cause I'm sleepy as fuck. Hmm...I just realized, it's been nearly a year since I published this story…and I'd like to thank all of you who've been here since it began and are still reading it –sticking with me even after I announced the whole rewrite thing going on. Thank you, I mean it. And as always remember people, make sure you review. You know how much I like , there's a Discord channel I regularly go to. The address is **bNRDSPd** , everyone can join in and chat. We got TrollerBear, PlaguedAmbition, AngryOwl, EndoplasmicPanda, Enbi, MaraX6960, MaethoMixup, Statchar etc to name a few. This is Rifat signing out. Happy New Year, you awesome readers.

 **＼（＾○＾）人（＾○＾）／**

 **PS:** Almost forgot, I recently read this story which I really liked. It's called " **Tanabata"** and it's written by BigE2955. Even though its Sasuke/Hanabi, it's really GOOD. Give it a read, folks.


	4. From the Ashes of the Old

**Author's Notes I** : Yeah, I'm done with the new chapter. You know, I would really appreciate it if cowards didn't choose to hide behind guest reviews and leave behind their shitty opinions. Okay, done with the rant. Now, before you start reading, this chapter is a bit more serious. The funny parts are there, but in shorter bits. That said, enjoy.

* * *

 **Sometimes I wish I did own Naruto. Then I could milk it for all its worth and laugh at the death threats from filthy shippers.**

* * *

 **||xXxXx—HNSWH—xXxXx||**

* * *

Light faded, dark descended, night fell. Slowly, it stretched over the sky; an utter blackness mercilessly painting every corner of the heavens. The whispering woods froze in stark silence, the auburn taints of the setting sun disappeared, only dark remained. Opaque clouds follow suit, shrouding the full moon with its endless veils. With the howling winds they twisted, danced and shimmied. Once in a while they let pale moonlight wink through them and ushered in small specks to shine on what little ground it could—breadcrumbs to a path concealed. Myriad small creatures came out of wooden shelters; the endless trees were trusty houses that kept them safe. Their homes had braved storms, outstood floods and bested winter since it was created. Yet now, the children of this forest yelled and shrieked in horror, cried in fear and ran with desperation. Tiny luminous dots, akin to stars studded to the ground, guided them. It showed them a way out, to escape the spreading abyss that devoured their home whole.

He saw through the darkness clearly. A great portion of his life was spent here, loitering in the shadows, witnessing how the world failed to provide him a true answer. It was homely, this feeling of stillness. Watching the creatures run away made his red eyes narrow. A voice in his heart murmured, _'Any human would do the same.'_ His heart spoke true. The dark was, to them, the root of all things cruel, calamitous and cursed. He knew better.

Deep within the confines of the womb, a child was incepted. Slowly, the child would grow in size and strength, healthier and better. A lovely thought—nothing more beautiful than a new life in bloom. Yet more than often people overlooked a simple fact. The babes so protected by the flesh of their mothers from all the things outside that could harm them rested not in a place of light, but of dark. For months they would stay there, warm and homely and safe. When the time came to leave their homes, their true birthplace, the children would voice their refusal. The light was so . . . _vicious_. Upon first sight they would be blinded by it, every newborn would cry, wail and plead to go back to its home, where all the worries of the world couldn't reach them, where the light could never touch them.

Sooner than they knew, the child would grow, getting more accustomed to it. To the fancy delights it had, the sentimental candy floss, all the joys of life. They lived in the light, but the dark still lingered. Those who acknowledged their darkness eventually found a healthy balance, some more than others. Only fools in their blind folly believed in the light and all the false promises it brought. He sat on the pasture with his trusty cane, drinking in the silence. Never had the calm before the storm tasted so sweet. For he knew, all good things must come to an end. Just as darkness fell, he knew a new light would appear. An endless paradox this cycle was.

A pillar rose, shining in the darkness. Red, orange and yellow flames flew higher and higher. Spiraling and circling, they raced each other to see which was mightier. Then it exploded without warning. Great spheres of fire formed, hovering in the air, and then it all rained down. Crushing and destroying everything they touched, it danced wildly on barren grounds. Flames forged in hell sniffed out the prey—rabid hounds. They wanted to hunt, eradicate and leave behind nothing alive in their journey. Trees melted, wood smoldered into sludge. Leaves burned and turned into forgotten ashes. The ground scorched, soft earth faded to black. Cinders flew, dying embers of the forest slowly disappearing. Twigs snapped, leaves sizzled, and trees fell, their screams reached his ears. They were of the pain and anguish the forest suffered.

Just as the dark had come, the light fought back. Now the world around them was a bright shade of searing gold. As if the sun had been scavenged out of the sinking horizon's deep murky waters to bring back a glimmering hope and embossed into the sky. The impact of the jutsu had caused this. A destructive sight, most would agree. Even the hardest of men, with ice in their veins, would worry after witnessing this field of fire.

To Madara, however, this was downright insulting. Theatricality no doubt played into deception, shinobi talked smack and flashed fancy jutsu to intimidate their opponents. This was just distracting and begged for attention. _'He might as well go to Iwa, yell "Fuck the Hidden Stone" and be done with it._ ' Maybe Ōnoki wouldn't mind. The Fence Sitter knew how to gobble shit. Display aside, the jutsu came up short. For one, the smoke from the burning residue was thin. It should've made him keel over and gag like a whore with three throbbing cocks shoved down her throat. The fallout didn't exist at all, soot was imperative to the after-effect. Compared to this bonfire, Madara could show what 'Hell on Earth' looked like with lesser time.

"Madara-sama," Shiro emerged from the ground beside him. "The storm will start soon." True to his words, the dark clouds were glittering gold. White wisps of lightning flashed in the skies, thunder followed.

"I noticed," he replied and slowly took his time to get up. His old hip betrayed him with every passing day. Fingers trembled despite his strong grip. At last he stood, proud and tall and . . . in pain. He didn't voice it, Uchiha never show their weaknesses. When they did a lot of people died. Perhaps karma wanted to play a joke. He did look down on Ōnoki for his old age.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Madara lied. Red eyes glanced around the area. "Has anyone noticed?"

"Nope!" The White Zetsu cheered. "The seals are holding up just fine, Madara-sama. Naruto-sama is so good at them I think he might be the bestest, most greatest, fantasticaste-"

"Call him back," Madara ordered. He was not in the mood for hearing one of Shiro's absurdly long praise sessions. "I don't want the idiot doing something stupider when it starts."

"Will do!" The Uchiha regretted his decision almost immediately. "NARUTO-SAMA!"

' _Perhaps this is all a nightmare,_ ' he still often told himself. Even now, after more than a year had passed since the incident, Uchiha Madara still felt this was an illusion. His other self's life certainly didn't agree. The dreams had finally stopped six months ago. They were too much to bear at times, especially at his age. More lightning crackled, more thunder boomed, and his patience drew to a close. "I'll be going inside. Tell the fool-"

"Tell me what?"

Madara turned around, "That you're going to cause more disturbances the storm." The young man before laughed off the jape, seeing an Uchiha laugh so casually was still a wonder to him. His clan wasn't uptight as the rest of the world saw them. They were more pragmatic. Uchiha in general had a low tolerance for bullshit and idiocy and stupidity—all three abundant in the person before him. It was like staring into a mirror. An inferior cheaply made mirror.

The man of dark raven hair, unruly and wild, was tied into a high ponytail. Apparently the boy didn't appreciate his hair getting dirty. Madara's hair was often filled with grime and blood, that's why it stayed so silky. He wore clothes befitting of an Uchiha and certainly looked the part. Sadly, he could not say the same for his 'grandson's' behavior.

"Calm down already," the boy waved him off. "No need to get so worried about me."

"I wasn't worried," Madara explained. "You staying out here in a storm would give me a headache." He started walking back towards the cave, the secret path was short and blocks of earth rose from the ground as seals appeared around them. Glancing to his right, he saw the blue eyed Uchiha already do with his hand seals. ' _He's gotten faster._ ' Walking down the stairs with the two of them, the gate closed behind them. The torches below were lit and the journey was silent. For the first thirty-five seconds.

" _So_ ," the young Uchiha drawled the word out. "What'd you think? It was pretty awesome, right?"

"In terms of consuming chakra and acting like a beacon for your enemies, then yes." Madara heard him grumble. "I do not doubt the power of your jutsu, the main hassle lies in executing it. Enemies aren't going to give you fifteen seconds to plan it out. Flashy jutsu will take you so far. Shinobi should be swift and subtle."

"That's rich coming from a guy who basically conjures up a mountain sized ghost samurai." He whined. "Subtle my-"

"It's called a battle avatar, halfwit," Madara shot back, his voice still calm. He didn't want to be lectured by a boy on subtlety; Susanoo was meant to make his enemies soil their pants. "You had one before, _still_ have one and you can't even get the term right." Naruto was an idiot. Perhaps a bigger idiot than Hashirama, something he never thought possible. The only saving grace in all this was that Naruto was not a Senju. Had he been . . . Madara shuddered at the thought. The Uchiha sent out his prayers to whatever being that was out there for avoiding such a tragedy. The boy was blabbering again.

"And that's why it works." Naruto Uchiha finished. His 'grandson' was strange. Brash, loud, honest to a fault, all the qualities Madara despised in a shinobi. Yet, the former Uzumaki had dashed all his thoughts, all the pictures he had regarding what a ninja should be. How many former enemies had he turned to his side with that silver tongue of his? "Maybe," Naruto scratched his chin. "Maybe you're just jealous. I mean, the first Hokage had a massive wooden Buddha with 1000 arms. Does your Susanoo have 1000 arms?"

Madara stopped in his tracks. Dark eyes grew cold. "Hashirama had Mokuton. Do you know what it was like fighting him?"

Naruto smiled. "Actually, I do."

"Good then you know how much he made the environment play to his strengths. Entire fields became death traps, forests that breathed poison, wooden dragons sneaked about beneath the earth."

"Yeah," Naruto's smile didn't fade. "Still doesn't change the fact he beat you two to one. You only got one over him after you got the Rinnegan. No wonder people call him the God of Shinobi."

"Boy," Madara began. "The only reason Hashirama is known in every nation is because of me. I pushed his limits, made him reach new levels. If it wasn't for me, Senju Hashirama would be sitting at home as a nobody with a stupid bowl cut and an even stupider family. I made him the _God of Shinobi_. His legends exist because he fought me. Without me he would've been just another Senju."

"Dear Log," Naruto sighed. "You're still hung about him becoming Hokage aren't you?"

Madara did not dignify that with a response. It wasn't worth the effort. This 'grandson' of his tested his patience more than the entire Senju Clan. At least they wanted to kill him. Naruto didn't even harbor hostile intent towards him, going so far as to blindingly trusting Madara despite all their history. It was madness, madness and stupidity. The large boulders before their path resonated, great grey stones parted sideways showing a tunnel. He could hear the storm raging above the ground this far down.

"Your fire caused that nimbus cloud to form in the coming storm," Madara reasoned. Perhaps the flames were hotter than he deemed.

"Hell yeah," the brat beamed up. "You should know better than to underestimate me."

"Doing that is impossible. Every time you open your mouth you prove you're a hopeless, belligerent fool."

"Yeah, well," he paused. "At least I don't throw world-enslaving tantrums." Both were striding towards the main hall beneath Mountain Graveyard, Madara's home for the last fifty years, give or take. The mountain itself was ravenous to scale, then came the unnatural biting cold. It was always colder here. Perhaps this place was cursed, just like his fate. "Do you want some soup?"

It was habitual at this point, Naruto asking him what he'd like to eat especially in this weather. Rain and wind hammered their home from all sides the echoes of the storm reached deep within, and he enjoyed this: the sounds that came. Madara had a fondness for the rain. As a child he found it hopeful. The rains from above came down and washed away the blood that soaked the lands.

"Are you going to make some regardless of my answer?" Naruto nodded. "Then, yes."

"See you in a bit," he cheerfully walked away and Madara stared at his retreating back. The Uchiha went back to his own room and rested on the seat. His bones were getting older. Had it not been for the Sharingan he would've gone blind perhaps. His room used to be dimly lit with fewer candles and torches. Naruto insisted on more lighting since he didn't want this place to be 'dark and gloomy'.

He didn't have to wait too long. Naruto came in with two cups, the Zetsu followed with a cup of his own. Madara took the mug and the smell of pork, broth, and other delectable vegetables all cooked well. Naruto had limited skills in the kitchen, but for a man who lived alone it was enough. Thinly sliced piece of pork were savory and crisp, the miso seasoning complemented it.

When he was almost done, Madara stopped. Naruto and Shiro were talking about what the Zetsu had seen recently. Being a spy was the main reason it existed. He often wondered what this Madara achieved by stealing Hashirama's flesh. Yes, he had Mokuton, albeit weaker, but outside of that he saw no gains. The Rinnegan wasn't awakened by this one. ' _The Stone Tablet was tampered with here too. Does this mean Black Zetsu exists here as well?'_

"What're you thinking about?" Naruto asked him, done with his own share. Madara finished his own cup and placed it on the desk beside him.

"The past," Madara said, "the present, the future. You're sure you never found Black Zetsu here?"

"Not a trace," Naruto replied, even he seemed bitter. "Shiro's been searching for him for a long time. He's not getting in here though. I made sure of it."

He remained quiet for a while before he felt a rising pain in his chest. He coughed and cursed in his mind. He felt weak. This shear in his heart reminded him of Hashirama's death blow, both were excruciating. A warm feeling began to spread through him. Naruto's hands were near his chest, glowing pale green, healing him. The pang lessened further before disappearing. Madara nodded, heavy breathes now calmer and shorter.

"You're getting worse with each day," Naruto said.

"What genius observation skills you have."

"And snarkier," he continued. His brows furrowed with concern. It was amusing to watch. "We should really get someone to check you out. If this keeps up-"

"I'll be fine as I've always been," Madara cut him off. "I didn't survive wars to die at the hands of some common disease." Thrice he'd died. Not many men could claim that. First was when he buried Izuna, the last member of his family—becoming truly alone. The second time came when Hashirama stabbed him during their battle. The last one: he severed his connection from the Gedo Statue. It had left a bad taste in his mouth. He was Uchiha Madara: a warrior. Dying of old age seemed so foreign to him. He never expected to live this long either.

"Look, old man," Naruto spoke, bringing him back to the room. "I know you think you're going to get better, but I don't share that thought. Besides, you're pretty damn stubborn."

"And you're not?"

"Touché," Naruto shrugged. "I used to think that way too. Then someone much wiser than me gave me the best advice of my life."

"Who?"

"Uchiha Itachi," Naruto smiled. Madara's only memories of Naruto went as far as the former's death. Right up to the point where Itachi made his grandson swallow a crow whole. The blonde girl had fortified his mind well; Madara knew about Naruto's life 'till his fight with Pein, everything afterwards was hazy and came in bits and pieces.

"And what advice did that kin slaying weasel give you?"

Naruto frowned, but let the matter drop. "He told me to forgive myself for things I can't do alone. I can't control everything and be everywhere at the same time. He said if want to know me, the real me, I need to accept the fact that I can't do everything alone. That's what friends, comrades and loved ones are for, they fill those gaps," he paused, clenching his fist. "Itachi said he failed with himself in that regard, and he'd been deceiving himself ever since."

"I'm surprised you remembered a lesson like that," Naruto laughed a bit. "And you want me to what? Accept that I'm old? That I'm weak? That I've been wrung from my reality, placed into this vessel who looks, thinks, and almost lived the same life as mine? I've already accepted that fact."

"No," Naruto came forward. "I need you to let me help you."

"I'm fine, boy," Madara wanted to look away from the damned honesty in his eyes.

"Geez, old man. Why do you have to be such a pain in the ass?"

Madara scoffed at the crude term. "You think I wanted this? I had a goal in my life: peace. Later, I find out that Black Zetsu was never my will to begin with. My entire dream was built on a lie." The memory of the other Zetsu turning traitor was vivid. It was cruel to watch. "I'm Uchiha Madara. Nothing will ever change that." He didn't bother hiding the venom in his voice.

"It doesn't have to be that way."

"Spare me your pity," Madara continued. The storm outside bellowed louder. Successive waves of rain battered the mountain. Winds thrashed wildly against the walls, like whips scarring flesh.

"Then why are you helping me?" Naruto asked, his voice grew louder as his eyes shone a wicked red. "You could've left me to my own devices, or poisoned me. You had a lot of chances, but you didn't. _Why_?"

"Do you remember what I told you?" Madara began. There was a small pain in his harm, nothing too great though. "Without purpose life has no meaning; I have none. Killing you has no merit."

"Okay. Why'd you help me with my training?" the boy continued. "I have your memories, your knowledge and know every damn thing that you do."

"The only reason I helped you is because you carry my blood," the Ghost clarified. "Any other person would do the same for their own." Madara felt a hand on his shoulder, the grip was gentle.

"Stop lying to yourself," Naruto smiled sadly. "I can't argue with you anymore, old man. I'm tired."

"That makes two of us," Madara removed his hand. "You don't need to worry about me, boy."

"I know, but I can't help it." The Uchiha ignored the wistful tone. "This sounds weird, but I really don't want you to get sick or something. You're kinda the only person I have left from . . . you know." The White Zetsu looked confused. Madara understood his words; he too shared that silly sentiment.

Madara sighed. The storm outside was finally showing signs of stopping. "Do you know why shinobi are told to keep their emotions in check?"

"So the mission does not get compromised."

"And there's a good reason why those who are close are rarely put into the same regiment." Madara continued. "Love is the death of duty. One of the first things we were taught. Then there's you, a complete mockery of that saying."

"Oi," Naruto scowled. The boy was not amused, Madara was. "You don't have to be an ass about it."

"A boy who spouts his ideals loudly, lets his emotions get the better of him, and making sure your decision stays on top—everyone else's opinions be damned," the Uchiha saw the boy smirking. He was proud. "You're worse than Hashirama."

"Meh," Naruto rubbed his nose, blue eyes shone with mischief. "You know you love me."

"I'm tired. Get out, _now_ ," Madara said, he wasn't feeling that well. Every passing day he found himself sleeping in more.

"Let me help you," the old Ghost didn't refuse and let him guide him to his bed. "You're getting frailer every day."

"I noticed," Madara replied and slowly got into bed. The damned pillows were softer now. There was a slight chill in the air, Naruto wisely pulled up his sheets for him. The boy bid him goodnight and was leaving. Madara wasn't done. "Wait."

"Yeah?" Naruto came back and looked curious. Madara looked at the boy with some pride; he had trained him after all. "Do you need to take a shit?" Madara was proud no longer.

"Boy," he breathed in. His chest felt lighter. "What do you intend to do?"

"What?"

He sighed. Naruto was dense, so dense that Madara was sure that light bended around him. "You're going to have a life outside this mountain. I'm sure taking care of an old man was not on your list."

"I don't mind really," Naruto grinned. "It's a heck of an experience. The best part about all this is you don't wear a diaper. Cause if you did, _oh boy_."

"I'm trying to have a serious conversation."

"I am serious," the boy relented. "You don't know how ugly things get beneath those white shit-guard pants. Babies are one thing, but elderly people with their wrinkly asses and-"

"Moving on," Madara cut him off. He did not want such an image in his mind. "What do you intend to do? Go back to the Leaf?"

"Eventually," Naruto admitted. He sat on the bed. The boy had gotten taller again. "It is home." The boy's affectionate tone was not lost on him. Reminded him of simpler times.

"Is being Hokage that important to you?" Madara asked. He had to fix the boy's mind and set him on a straight path. Not the path Madara chose, not the path Hashirama chose, but a path of his own. Free from all the shackles their age had cuffed on countless people.

"Being the Hokage is all I've ever wanted to be," Naruto spoke. His eyes were staring off into a different time, a different world. "It's been the one thing I've always wanted to be."

"The goal is admirable," the thought choked him. Perhaps Naruto's own views had softened his, but not swayed them. "I can understand why you would want to be Hokage. Adoration, acknowledgement, acclamation—things we all strive for."

"Yeah, I didn't know what it was like until I beat Pein. Of course, you already know that."

"Yes, then what?"

"Pardon?"

"Let's say you become Hokage, here," Madara pointed out. The boy nodded. "Then what? You stay stuck behind a desk, signing papers, assigning missions, keeping the peace. I believe that's the gist of it."

"Well, yeah," Naruto said after some time.

"Then _what_?" The Uchiha continued. "You become Hokage. Now you get to wear the silly hat. Now what's your purpose?"

"To keep all the villagers safe and-"

Madara laughed. How many years had it been since he laughed out of sheer amusement? "You can do that without becoming Hokage. Your master, Jiraiya, did that." The boy did not reply, he was searching for answers. "Before you start, I want to ask you something. Can you give an honest answer?"

"Duh," came the intelligent reply. "Hit me with your best shot."

Madara sighed. "What would you do if your precious Hokage told you to go kill your mother?" The only sound in the room came from Zetsu who gasped and the rain, finally dying, letting the vestiges of its final drops leave a lasting impression. "What if he commanded you to bring your father's head? Told you to slaughter innocent children because of their parents' sins? Or assigned you to murder your own offspring for the village?" The Ghost sunk into the bed. "Now, imagine yourself giving that order to someone to do the same."

"I . . ." the boy spoke no further. "You're trying to mess with me."

"If I wanted to manipulate you I would've started a long time ago. You're not as smart as you think," he explained. "You're a grown man, a strong one too. The strongest are left with the greatest burdens because they can bear it. Look no further than Itachi. Duty and loyalty is good, no doubt. Just make sure it doesn't kill what's important to you."

"Go to sleep, old man," Naruto got up. "We'll talk later tomorrow."

The footfalls were long and heavy in the eerie silence. Madara, however, was not done. "Don't make the same mistakes Itachi did, boy." The Ghost counseled him. He paused for a moment as Naruto stood at the gate. "Don't make the mistakes I did either."

"I'm not you."

"No, you're not," Madara agreed. "You're Uchiha Naruto." The door closed and Madara saw Shirou rise up from the ground. The white Zetsu looked afraid.

"Are you two going to argue again, Madara-sama?" the thing asked timidly.

"No, I'm tired of arguing with him." Hopefully it would be his last one. "Go on." The White Zetsu nodded and bid him good-night before melting into the ground. Madara shuffled around in his bed, choosing to lie on his right side.

Sleep came quickly as he began to yawn. Eyelids grew heavy with fatigue and it got darker. ' _I do hope that foolish boy comes to his senses quick enough. Righteous people are always the first to die.'_ Madara thought about the boy, the emotions of the Madara who had a family and loved them played into it as well. He cared about the boy, much more than he should've. The still feeling settled in, the one right before he fell asleep, and Madara allowed the darkness to take him.

 **||xXxXx—HNSWH—xXxXx||**

"Pay attention, brother," the ground beneath his feet disappeared. He felt himself clashing with the earth. Getting up he heard his brother's chortle, _He's getting cockier_. "Well, this is a sight to behold."

"You got lucky," he replied, hiding the pride in his voice. Izuna had come a long way.

"Sure," Izuna offered him a hand and Madara took it. The training grounds of the Uchiha clan were always a pleasant view; green lands littered with shuriken. "You seemed distracted. Care to tell me why?"

"I remembered a dream."

"A dream?" Izuna's chuckle was not lost on him. His brother had always been more loquacious than him. "The last time you had one, I nearly died. Do be careful, brother. I don't want a Senju taking your head."

"It will be a cold day in hell before that happens."

"Tobirama could," He didn't bother hiding the scowl. Tobirama, the prick. The Senju had a holier-than-thou air about him. Every time he saw him Madara felt the urge to burn something—preferably him. "I heard his technique makes him too fast to be seen, even with our Sharingan. Flying Thunder God he calls it. He might just catch you off guard, that's his usual M.O."

"Flying Idiot is what he should call it," Madara said. "Tobirama on his best day couldn't be the dirt on my shoe. I wonder if he truly is Hashirama's brother." Yes, that made more sense. Perhaps Senju Butsuma had strolled into a whorehouse after a bloody day, giving into the temptations of the flesh and sired a bastard. Annoying as Hashirama was he didn't put himself on a high pedestal, courtesy of his own stupidity. The white haired Senju on the other hand, he probably couldn't go a day without someone praising him. 'Oh Senju-sama! Wow! So cool! Such speed! Much water!' He decided there and then, the next time he would see Tobirama, Madara would declare him a bastard and cause a rift between the brothers.

"Well if he isn't, shame on them," Izuna and Madara walked before sitting down on the ground. Each brother took a flagon of water and relishing in the drink. Summers were hot, yet the sun was merciful today. Not glaring down upon the lesser ants which roamed the world. "So, that dream of yours, spill it."

Madara chuckled a bit. "It was strange."

"How so?"

"I grew old," Madara took another swig. His throat felt dryer than usual. "Even had a family; a wife, two sons and a grandson. Can you imagine that?"

"Doesn't seem far-fetched," his brother shrugged. "Didn't you ever think of having one?"

Madara remained quiet. "Look," Izuna followed his sight. Butterflies, black and yellow and red, all danced together in the air. Then another one came, bright blue its' wings were and seemed the most excitable among them. "I never saw a blue one before."

"I saw a few once," Izuna got up as the small winged creatures flew further and further away. "Did you like it? Your dreamy family?"

"They were family," Madara said. Coal eyes looked up at the bright blue skies. White clouds drifted like slowly. It was perfect.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I suppose I did," he admitted. "The grandson needed work. Stupid, bold and impulsive, the boy was annoying."

"What was his name?" Izuna asked.

"Naruto."

"Well, at least his name wasn't Tobirama."

Madara retched at the thought. Who in their right minds would name their children with that burden? Only baseborn were deserving of that name, the runt of the litter. "I suppose you're right."

"Well, let's go then," Izuna started walking. "Father and the others are waiting for you."

"Where are they right now?" Madara asked, seemingly forgetting where he was supposed to go. It was a strange feeling.

Uchiha Izuna, his younger brother, smiled, "Home."

 **||xXxXx—HNSWH—xXxXx||**

Sweat poured down his frame as he dug out earth. Using a jutsu would've been easier, but that was not his way. Had someone told him that he would wake up to find Madara dead in his sleep he would've laughed. This, however, was no joke. Last night's words were still fresh on his mind. He had several arguments with Madara before, last night one's while lighter did eat up his sleep. Guilt gripped him as well. _'I should've known something was up._ ' He jumped out of the grave. The experience was strange to him.

This was the first time he'd done this, and the person he would be burying was a former enemy, with whom he shared blood no less. Naruto didn't know how he felt about this whole damned thing. A part of him was sad, yet another part wasn't surprised. One thing was sure: he didn't want the old man to die.

Now, he was alone. Madara's old memories amplified this hollow sensation. While he couldn't say he dearly loved the man despite their ties, but he didn't hate him either. Madara had done enough to help him with his training, despite not needing to. Counseled him wisely, pointed out his flaws and everything one could do for their grandson. Or so Naruto thought, he never had one before.

"Naruto-sama," Shirou said, "He's ready." The clones were done wrapping Madara's body with clean white clothes. The Zetsu was misty-eyed and had loudly cried when he saw Madara not waking up anymore. Naruto walked to the corpse now garbed in white. The old skin wrinkled further, his body rigid as stone, and a peaceful look on his face. He looked content, just as Neji did. He picked up the frail body, placing it into the coffin and sliding it shut.

He carried the coffin towards the grave. The small walk seemed longer than he thought. Gently, he buried it into the ground. Blue eyes turned red as he seared the image into his mind. This was the one inevitable fate Madara had told him about: death. Shovel in hand he started heaping pounds of earth on to the white coffin, staining it brown. _"What would you do if your precious Hokage told you to bring your mother's head?"_

The words bothered him still. It piled up soon and using the flat side, he molded the earth into a more suited shape. There were four other graves beside it. Naruto buried Madara next to his wife, Uzumaki Haruhi. Next to her were her sons, Izuna and Indra, along with the latter's wife Narukami Tsukihime—Uchiha Naruto's parents.

From the diaries Uchiha Naruto kept he learned a great deal about his 'parents'. Gentle and kind, strong and witty, Indra was considered a disappointment to his father's legacy. Watching his older brother drowning in hatred, blood and combat, which lead to Izuna's death, molded him into a pacifist. His mother, Tsukihime, came from Getsugakure; a soft-spoken woman with a weak body, birthing her only son had taken a great deal out of her. Then, Iwa scouts had found them. Thinking his father to be an Uchiha spy placed in foreign lands they killed the couple, with young Naruto witnessing it and awakened the Mangekyō.

He dreamed sometimes, of a life where he did not speak without purpose, did not smile as much, and always strived for power. Uchiha Naruto was a broken child, one who played with shuriken and swords in the shadows. His only purpose was to grow stronger, to spit back in the face of the world and all those who came for his happiness. Naruto simply accepted he was both. He was Uzumaki Naruto the man who banded all the nations together; he was Uchiha Naruto who so tainted by hatred had sought strength for his own happiness. Was it a crime to be selfish? To be happy? The reborn Uchiha had found those words time and time again in the little black book.

"Naruto-sama," Shirou paused, struggling to find the right words. "Will you be leaving?"

He sighed and ruffled the Zetsu's green hair who was sitting with a somber look. Innocent as a child this one was. Reminded him of Konohamaru when the brat was younger. "In a few days."

"What will I do 'till then?" the Zetsu asked with determination. "Do I go and kill some shinobi? Get some reinforcements? Build an army? Start a nation and-"

"None of that," Naruto sat down beside him. "I want you to keep this place safe, and look for Black Zetsu when you can."

"I never found anyone like this guy," the plant-being continued. "Even in the Hidden Rain." Shirou's stealth was terrifying. This being raped the very definition of privacy.

"Still keep an eye out," Naruto insisted looking at the graves. One day he too would be six feet under. Only his deeds and legacy would remain. He had none, not here at least. Staying away from the Leaf was getting to him and the old man dying had removed the last bit holding him back. "I'll be going back to the Leaf."

"Can I come with you?"

"No, Shirou," the white Zetsu pouted. Naruto chuckled a bit. He needed that. "I need someone I can trust to keep guard here. Don't want some stupid necromancer coming in here, and besides, I can visit any time I want."

"Oh yeah!" Shirou snapped his fingers in realization. "You have that flash thingy."

"Yes." Naruto got up and stood near Madara's grave. "Go and hunt something down, Shirou. We'll be making lunch soon." Shirou did not need to be told twice. He took a bit of the earth in his hand before dropping it on the grave. Like sands of time in an hourglass it fell crumbling.

"Thank you," Naruto spoke. "I never actually said that to you. Always wanted to, but things never go the way anybody wants it to." His hand traced across the grave. "Don't worry about me, old man," he said, eyes stung a bit. "I'll kinda miss you though."

 **||xXxXx—HNSWH—xXxXx||**

The forests of Land of Fire were considered sacred by some, lauded by others, worshiped by a few. From there a small cult was born. When shinobi of the Leaf began using the **Kawarimi** a craze began. Men with wooden chains around their necks and wooden earrings and wooden armbands roamed the lands, each of them carried a log with them, praising its uses and spreading the rave. _"PRAISE THE LOG,"_ they shouted in the face of their foreign enemies, for the Log had saved them one times too many.

Naruto never cared much for it, until he too saw the light. The Log was, for all purposes, the closest thing to a safety insurance a shinobi could ever have. Weapons being thrown at you? **Kawarimi.** Somebody going to hit you with a jutsu? **Kawarimi!** A man garbed in leather about to explore your holiest of holies? **KAWARIMI**! The last one was a bit stretched out, but Jiraiya once told him how his anal virginity had been saved by the Log from a man who was far too pretty and touchy. Then again, his old master had been one for bizarre adventures. He still remembered their trip to the Land of Fangs where he had his first, followed by the others. Finally, he remembered Tsunade.

A giggle escaped his lips as he remembered her bare form. He slapped himself ridding himself of such thoughts. "You're walking through a forest, Naruto. Stop thinking about naked women," he told himself. The woods were menacing to look at. Great trees with twisted branches and indents that resembled horrific faces glared at him. The First Hokage had supposedly shaped them to instill fear in enemies. Madara told him that Hashirama wanted to try his hand at sculpting. A for effort though.

Terrifying shrubbery aside, Konoha was not that far. Five days Naruto had been travelling, hiding his face with a hood and used discretion on every turn—going so far as to sealing the Gunbai. He had discarded the hood since he came here, his true home was a few miles away and anxiety built up. Naruto wasn't the brightest, he knew that. However, he was no fool either. There would be problems once he entered the village, imprisonment possibly one of them. His face was a dead give-away to who he was, and he only prayed that his home was still the one he remembered.

Hope brewed within him still, a fire that could not be stamped out. The sounds of crickets and other wildlife were like music to his ears. The moon was bright tonight and the path was clear. He hummed a tune and walked casually. If he was lucky there would be a party up ahead that would escort him to the village. He breathed in the fresh smell and sighed in contentment. Madara's death made him a bit mellow.

Footfalls reached his ears and he narrowed his eyes. A group was heading towards him. They were all but sprinting. Six of them in total, all of them had healthy chakra levels. The largest of them felt restrained, at war with itself. ' _Please be Konoha shinobi,_ ' he kept chanting in his mind. He did not want to fight at the moment. Then they came and stood across him. They wore no headbands, but their clothes betrayed them. Large muscly dudes, white vests, and, well, two of them were dark-skinned. Deep within his heart he felt ashamed for even assuming that.

"Who are you?" One of them asked, he was probably the leader. They were on guard, all of them. In their midst, Naruto's eyes caught something unique: someone much smaller than them, a head shorter than him perhaps, had a black bag over their head. She was female no doubt as his eyes went lower.

"Um," Naruto smartly began. He had two choices: stop them or let them pass. This wasn't his business. Absolutely not. Then he heard the muffled yells coming from them. _'Oh fuck me and my hero complex.'_ He could just see Madara condescendingly shaking his head in disappointment from his grave. "Look, we're all humans and we should all get along. So-"

"He looks like an Uchiha."

"Did you just cut me off?" Naruto asked as they began to discuss, loudly.

"He's from the village. We should kill him."

"Or take him hostage."

"Are you ignoring me?" his annoyance grew with each word. The sounds of weapons clanking irritated him further. "Oh for fuck's sake," Naruto scoffed as two of them rushed him. He growled in annoyance as the blades missed his face by inches. _'Well they did try drawing first blood, so . . .'_

Swerving back, he drew a kunai from his own pouch before stabbing one of them in the eye. The man fell on his knees, screaming as blood leaked from the kunai metal piercing his head. Naruto caught the fist of the other man aiming for his face before twisting it and swiped his foot across the man's face, the sound of bones snapping flinched the rest. Grabbing the head of the one experiencing a discount lobotomy, he drove it into the ground. His kunai emerged from the backside of the now very dead Kumo shinobi's head.

Lightning rushed at him and Naruto jumped in the air, narrowly missing it. The fourth one got close, grabbed Naruto's arm and twisted it across his back. Imitating the reflexes of a stripper he'd once seen, he went under the legs of the shinobi and made him fall on the ground. It was too sudden and unexpected. He didn't waste time, the axle of his foot collided with the man's nose, blue sandals now darkened with red stains. The man went into shock and was about to scream, but Naruto lodged a kunai deep into his throat. He stared at the man who was about to use his jutsu again, ' _Idiot.'_ Red eyes trapped him in a world of burning flesh and hallowed screams, the man himself shook violently before Naruto littered his face, throat and chest with shuriken, each digging deep through the flesh as they hissed and spun.

"I hate it when people cut me off," Naruto said turning around, Sharingan on, and two shuriken in his hand. "Ignoring me is damn right annoying. Hey! Look at me when I talk to you."

"Fuck you!" the man yelled in terror, his eyes didn't move away from his blood tattered sandals which he would have to clean now. He missed Shirou. "I'm not looking in your fucking eyes."

"I assure you they are very pretty to look at," Naruto said with a smile and more muffles came from the bag over the woman's head. "See, she agrees."

"Shut up!" The man held a kunai to her throat and kneed her in the back, making her arch in pain. Naruto narrowed his eyes. A deep rage embroiled in the red irides. "I'll kill her, I swear to Kumo. Close your fucking eyes!"

 _'I could try that,_ ' it was a gamble, but one he was willing to play. If it didn't, all his plans would go straight to hell. "Alright. Just calm down, fuck boy." Hearing the man bristle was satisfying and Naruto shut his eyes. "There, I closed it. Samurai's honor."

Naruto felt the man's eyes on him. He could still smell the fear on him. "Throw away your shuriken."

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked, his right hand slowly rising as the two small weapons rested between his fingers. "I sorta like these."

"Throw it away or I kill this bitch!"

"What crawled up your ass today?" Naruto muttered before clenching his fist. Small winds gathered at around them and he hurled them to his right side. "There. You happy?"

"Put your fucking hands where I can see them."

"Tsk, tsk," Naruto raised his arms in surrender. "That's not what you should be saying, my very knife-happy friend."

"What?"

"That's more like it," Naruto could tell the man was confused. He breathed in and his face darkened with seriousness. He pointed at the Kumo shinobi with one finger. "Omae wa mou shindeiru."

"What?" he said and Naruto waited . . . and waited. He waited further and nothing happened. The hostage was saying something incoherent. The reborn Uchiha felt like hiding his face in shame.

"Oh you have just got to be kidding me," Naruto muttered in annoyance. He'd been practicing this for months. All of it went down the drain. "You know what? Just kill me on general principle. Can't believe I messed up with the time on that one."

"What-"

 _SHING_

Metal rotated wildly, the man screamed as Naruto heard flesh being torn apart and opened his eyes. The shuriken had torn straight through his head, bits of his brain were lying around and his face looked disgusting. One eyeball had exploded, the other one looked as if Akamaru had chewed on it before throwing it away, tongue was hanging out, flopping like a fish and red juice everywhere. Not a pretty sight, Naruto would've admired the impact behind his attack had it not been mistimed. "Well at least there were no witnesses to my failure. Forgive me pop-culture, I failed you." The hostage's moans told him otherwise.

"Oh right," Naruto walked over to her, the young woman was sitting on her knees. Hands tied behind her aback and a bit of red on her yellow, dirtied battle kimono. He was not a pervert like Jiraiya, no. He had a healthy admiration for the opposite sex, like every straight full-blooded man did, but he could not take his eyes off her once he removed the hood.

Her face was beautiful; fair-skinned, dazzling violet eyes and full lips, the lower one bleeding a bit. However, nothing caught his eyes more than her hair. Long, luscious, silky, the crimson tresses trailed down from her head to her waist. "Whoa," he said admiring her locks with his own hands, mesmerized by them. "Wow . . . you have really pretty hair, you know." The girl mumbled something and Naruto removed the gag, forgetting that she was still bound. He went back and cut the ones tied around her arms as well, her perfect skin was marred by markings.

"Are you alright?" he asked, not looking at her as something else caught his eyes. She was around his age, perhaps younger. Yet, her figure was more . . . full. More mature than those of his generation. ' _Stop perving out you lech,'_ he told himself before he saw her legs. Black stocking came up to her rich, creamy thighs. _'Thigh highs are my demise.'_

"Thank you," her voice was tired, yet sweet.

"It's alright," Naruto said, a bit loudly mostly to make sure she didn't notice where his eyes were going. A whole year without sex was getting to him and then this crimson haired girl popped out of nowhere. God was cruel to him. "So are you okay?"

"You're an Uchiha," she said, suspicion present in her voice. "I've never seen you in the village."

"Well," Naruto shrugged. Some clouds were blocking the bright moonlight. "I wasn't born in the Leaf, but I am heading there though. I could give you a ride."

"I can walk," she got up and groaned in pain, touching her back. She fell on one knee and Naruto did the same, getting closer. "Son of a bitch kicked me too hard."

"If it's any consolation, his head was never in the right place." Much to his surprise she chuckled a bit.

"You're funny."

"I try to be," Naruto admitted. "Offer's still up." She glared at him, giving him 'the look'. "I'm not an enemy. If I was I wouldn't bother saving you."

"Don't get too touchy," she said and Naruto picked her up in a bridal carry. "You could've taken me on your back."

"Yeah, but that'd probably put too much pressure on your arms given how swollen they are," Naruto admitted as he walked a bit before jumping up on a tree. Each step was now a leap from branch to branch, leaves rushed past them as he picked up his speed. "Other than that, I don't mind carrying a beautiful woman like this." Oh, Jiraiya would be proud of him.

"I'm not," she mumbled, her face closer to his chest as the clouds still shadowed the area.

"You are," Naruto countered. He frowned a bit. "Did no one ever tell you that?"

"Only those close to me, like they're supposed to," the redhead said. He looked down to see her frowning as well. "And stop making small talk. I'm not your friend. You're just saying this to gain my trust. Even called my stupid hair pretty. I look like a stupid tomato like everyone else says."

"Bullshit." Naruto halted his pace and stood on a great branch. He looked down at her with a grin, "Your hair isn't stupid. It's really beautiful. Seriously, I could stare at it all day." The girl's face darkened, her cheeks flushed and she looked away. God, she was cute. They said nothing more on the way, but the rigidness in her body language decreased as they got closer. She was more relaxed and he ignored the urge to shiver as her arms locked around his neck.

"I almost forgot," he began trying to distract himself, laughing a bit. "I'm Uchiha Naruto. Nice to meet you, uh . . . what was your name again?"

"Uzumaki Kushina."

"That's a nice name." Naruto nodded and then the gears in his head slowly turned. Blue eyes widened further and further, his jaw started to hang wide and he looked down at her with shock on his face.

She giggled a bit at his face no doubt. "You look funny, dattebane."

"Y-Yeah," he choked out and nervously laughed, which sounded more akin to a dying wheeze. He coughed trying to clear this throat.

"Is something wrong?" she asked eagerly.

"Oh nothing!" Naruto all but yelled. "I'm fine!" His voice came out too high.

"Are you sure?" Kushina looked nervously at him.

"Yeah!" It was still too high. The clouds finally departed and he got a close look at her face. There was no doubt about it. This was her alright, a different version of his mother in a different space-time continuum and the worst part was . . . he liked the way she looked at him with those small hints of care in her eyes. ' _This is so wrong.'_

Naruto felt someone heading towards him and his eyes widened further. A young blond teen with blue eyes, garbed in white and black with a Leaf headband on stopped in his path. He felt guiltier when he saw the blonde's hand filled with strands of crimson hair. _'Oh God, I feel like such a big dick now._ ' The shock in Namikaze Minato's eyes was disheartening to look at.

"Kushina," he sounded like a whining puppy. Naruto closed his eyes and shook his head. Soon enough, more people appeared. Garbed in grey vests and armed with tantō on their backs, the ANBU stood—all eyes on him.

Breathing, he greeted them. "Nice night for a walk, right guys?" They said nothing.

"I don't think they trust you," Kushina wisely whispered to him.

"You don't say."

* * *

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* * *

 **Author's Notes II** : There we go. Yeah, I know not funny like the previous chapters, but I guess I got right. The pacing was off, yes. For those who expected Madara redemption, well . . . L M A O. I decided to keep him as himself. He's not a hero, not a villain, he's just Madara. Hope you liked the meme reference and of course the quality of the writing. I could've gone for the cliched route where this Kushina falls in love with Nards at first sight, but I didn't. You've probably read that too many times. For those wanting to know what Nard's ponytail looks like, well I changed the picture to the story -if that matters. Make sure to review and if you can't PM me. If there are any mistakes in regarding grammar and something else that was off, do let me know. English isn't my first language and some blunders escape my eyes. Take care, my peeps.


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